Philadelphia Eagles: It’s time for Travis Fulgham to want it

When Travis Fulgham rose to national prominence for about a month and a half in 2020, the Philadelphia Eagles were a very different team. Doug Pederson was the team’s head coach, Carson Wentz was their starting quarterback, and Jalen Hurts was a weird second-round selection who earned the occasional Wildcat snap but wasn’t really a part of the offensive identity.

After suffering a string of injuries early in the season, the Eagles opted to call up Fulgham from their practice squad, and in Week 4, he had his “Welcome to the NFL” moment when he hauled in two of the three passes thrown his way for 57 yards and a very exciting touchdown.

It was exciting, fans were over the moon, and, most importantly of all, the Eagles secured the win against a team many folks assumed would be pretty good.

And then, in Week 5, he did it again, going for a career-high 152 yards and a touchdown in a losing effort versus the Pittsburgh Steelers. And then, in Week 6, he did it again, and in Weeks 7 and 8, for that matter, too.

Over that weirdly wonderful five-week period, Fulgham recorded 29 catches for 435 yards and four touchdowns and looked like the sort of diamond in the rough hidden superstar that never seems to fall into the Eagles’ laps.

And then… well, nothing really. Fulgham fell out of the Birds’ starting lineup, caught just nine of the 23 passes thrown his way, and recorded just 104 total receiving yards, or 48 less than he had in Week 5 alone. Fulgham was ultimately waived before the start of the 2022 NFL season, and he was bounced around the league, first to the Miami Dolphins and then to the Denver Broncos, where he signed a futures contract at the end of the season.

Unfortunate? You bet, but hey, according to the player in question, the former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver can still “take over a game if I want to.” Considering the state of his career, now would probably be the time to do so, as the Denver Broncos are a deep team looking to win.

Will the former Philadelphia Eagles WR sink or swim in 2022?

The Denver Broncos are a deep team.

Per NFL.com Digital Content Producer Bobby Kownack, the team has five players who are more or less locks to make the 53-man roster in Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick, K.J. Hamler, and 2022 fifth-round pick Montrell Washington. Assuming Fulgham doesn’t beat one of those players out, or one isn’t placed on season-ending IR, that leaves maybe one spot on the active roster heading into the fall, with players like Seth Williams and Kendall Hinton fighting Travis Fulgham for the role.

Is that an ideal situation? Eh, not really, especially since the Broncos are flush with bigger X receivers who fill the same role Fulgham was mostly used in Philadelphia, but considering Fulgham can deploy from the slot too, there is a chance he could stand out in camp, become a fan favorite of new quarterback Russell Wilson, who doesn’t have much of a relationship with any of his new teammates, and find himself active in Week 1 for the first time in his NFL career.

And if not? Well, it’s not hard to imagine Fulgham latching on elsewhere – maybe in Jacksonville with Doug Pederson – especially now that teams are allowed to keep three veteran players on their practice squad.

As was the case in 2020, all it takes is one opportunity to take a career to new heights and a few bad games for it all to go away.

It’s hard to really find another analogue in recent memory for Travis Fulgham’s meteoric rise and sudden fall with the Philadelphia Eagles. Seldom does a player catch fire that fast only to disappear before the season comes to an end, let alone fail to make the roster at a position of need the following season. But hey, if Fulgham can do it once, maybe he can do it again; I mean, hey, I certainly won’t be rooting against him.