In the offseason there isn't much football news to discuss. To help the time pass by, most websites and blogs come up with all kinds of lists and rankings. Sporting News got in on this action, as it decided to put together an article ranking the NFL's top-25 wide receivers.
Inside of their rankings, there was one name missing that deserved to be there: Alshon Jeffery. Receivers like Tyler Boyd, Mike Williams, Kenny Golladay, Chris Godwin, Cooper Kupp and D.J. Moore were all ranked above Jeffery in this very questionable list.
So why was Jeffery omitted from the list? Coming into Philadelphia, he was labeled as an injury-prone player with a body made of glass. Yes he did get injured during Training Camp in his first year as an Eagle, but he fought through the pain and played all 16 games (and three playoff games) at an elite level with a torn rotator cuff. In 2018 he had to miss the first three games of the season to recover from shoulder surgery, but he ended up playing in the remaining 13 regular season game (and two playoff games) and once again put up solid numbers. Was his drop in the NFC Divisional Round so devastating that it makes him not a top-25 receiver in the NFL? Absolutely not.
Let's compare his two years in Philadelphia to the previous two seasons for the other receivers mentioned:
Alshon Jeffery: 29 games, 122 receptions, 1,632 yards, 15 touchdowns
Tyler Boyd: 24 games, 98 receptions, 1,253 yards, 9 touchdowns
Mike Williams: 26 games, 54 receptions, 759 yards, 10 touchdowns
Kenny Golladay: 26 games, 98 receptions, 1,540 yards, 8 touchdowns
Chris Godwin: 32 games, 93 receptions, 1,367 yards, 8 touchdowns
Cooper Kupp: 23 games, 102 receptions, 1,435 yards, 11 touchdowns
D.J. Moore: 16 games, 55 receptions, 788 yards, 2 touchdowns
Jeffery gets the injury-prone label, but yet he has played in more games over the last two seasons than all but one of those players who were ranked above him. In addition, he has better individual stats than all six of the players mentioned above. Heading into the 2019 season, Jeffery is fully healthy and will be ready to be one of Carson Wentz's top targets as Wentz begins his revenge tour.
The man who made this list needs to feel shame, and Jeffery will make sure shame comes to him in 2019.
