Philadelphia Eagles: Keep an eye on Pharoh Cooper

For what feels like the forever-th season in a row, the Philadelphia Eagles find themselves without a viable weapon in the return game.

In 2020, the Eagles turned to Quez Watkins, Greg Ward, and Boston Scott as their kick/punt returners. While each player filled their role in an alright capacity, none were particularly adept at the art of weaving through traffic on their way to the endzone for one reason or another.

In 2021, both Watkins and Ward have remained in the return man fray, but the majority of the team’s special teams touches have been given to 2020 first-round pick Jalen Reagor in an attempt to unlock his open-field playmaking in a different aspect of the game.

Thus far, the results have been underwhelming.

Much like Reagors’ recent offensive showings, where he has been used as a gadget guy with not-so-good results, the former TCU Horned Frog has made some questionable decisions with the ball in his hands and awarded the Eagles with more than a few extra long fields as a result.

Factor in the loss of Jordan Howard and the corresponding role upgrade that should be afforded to Scott, and the Eagles aren’t exactly a team loaded with viable special teams options, let alone supplemental offensive playmakers.

So tonight, as the New York Giants take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, keep a close eye on number 83 in red, white, and blue, as the elevated practice squad wide receiver may eventually become available for the Philadelphia Eagles to poach.

Pharoh Cooper would look nice in Philadelphia Eagles’ midnight green.

For today at least, Pharoh Cooper is a member of the New York Giants active roster.

After signing with the G-Men’s practice squad earlier this month following multiple receivers landing on IR, Cooper was called up for New York’s most recent game – Week 9 versus the Las Vegas Raiders – and served as the team’s primary return man for both kicks and punts.

He did fine.

Outside of a boggled return at the end of the first half that he ultimately advanced from the nine-yard line to the 20, Cooper was a steady contributor who returned three punts and two kicks in an otherwise quiet evening.

After being protected on the practice squad for the week of Week 11, Cooper played well enough to earn another look for the Giants in their forthcoming game versus “Tompa” Bay, as he was called up to the active roster as a COVID-19 replacement.

If Cooper plays well enough versus the Bucs, maybe he’ll earn a permanent spot on the active roster. If not, he’ll only be eligible to be called up to the active roster one more time as a non-COVID replacement and could be signed away by any other team if not properly protected.

Should the Philadelphia Eagles be the sixth NFL team to sign Cooper to their active roster? Maybe, maybe not, but they should certainly think about it.

Coming out of Southern Carolina, Cooper was an absolute weapon. A sort of proto-Deebo Samuel/Brandon Aiyuk with the body of a running back and a game built on YAC, Cooper immediately found success with the Los Angeles Rams, where he became both a Pro Bowler and an All-Pro in only his second professional season.

As a member of the Rams, Cooper averaged 25.1 yards per kick return, 10.7 yards per punt return, and an average of one offensive touch per game, mainly as a receiver but occasionally as a rusher. The only problem? Cooper had a bad habit of fumbling. Even in his All-Pro campaign, Cooper fumbled the ball three times, and during his third professional season, after being placed on and then activated off of IR, Cooper was waived in favor of the dynamic duo of Jojo Natson and our old pal Blake Countess, who played well in his absence.

From there, Cooper bounced around the league, playing for the Cardinals, the Bengals, the Cardinals again, the Panthers, and the Jaguars before ultimately landing on New York’s practice squad on November 3rd.

Despite averaging 1,054.5 yards per season over his final two seasons with the Gamecocks, Cooper has never been targeted more than 33 in a single season – his second run in Arizona – and has been almost exclusively viewed as a special teams ace instead of an offensive gadget guy. Maybe that’s because every other team he’s been on has better receiving targets, but on a team like the Eagles, where you’ll seldom find a game where more than three wide receivers receive a target, that might not be the case. No, if Nick Sirianni were to give the same targets to Cooper as he has to Jalen Reagor over the last four games, maybe he’d have more yards than 18 positive yards on 11(!) offensive touches to show for it.

Sidebar: Couldn’t Greg Ward, John Hightower, or even KeeSean Johnson produce at a better clip than Reagor over the last month? Why have those three receivers averaged zero offensive touches per game in November?

At this point, there really aren’t that many viable options left on the open market who can come in, sign with the Philadelphia Eagles, and produce on both offense and special teams. Sure there are a few, like Pharoh Cooper, but at best, they’re a marginal upgrade, not a magical fix. But after watching Jalen Reagor put half of his heart into the return game in Week 11, it’s clear something has to change, whether that’s via an external option like Cooper, a practice squad elevatee like Jason Huntley, or just putting Boston Scott back there yet again for another bite at the apple.