When the 2019 Training Camp ended and the season was right around the corner, Eagles fans and media across the country all felt that the team had no real glaring holes on the team. In fact, one of the position groups that was getting the most buzz was the wide receivers, which after trading for DeSean Jackson seemed like one of the deepest groups in the entire NFL. A combination of Jackson, Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, Mack Hollins, and 2nd round pick J.J. Arcega-Whiteside figured to be plenty of arsenal for Carson Wentz to have for a potential MVP-caliber season. Boy were we wrong.
After a great passing game against the Washington Redskins in the season opener, things went downhill fast for the Birds. Jackson ended up playing a total of 66 snaps before his regular season ended, Jeffery looks like he is running with cement inside his cleats, Agholor appears to be inside his own head with constant mental errors, Hollins just plain sucks, and Arcega-Whiteside dropped a potential game-winning touchdown vs. Detroit and has been in the doghouse ever since.
Because of Jackson being out of action, obviously Jeffery and Agholor have been the two receivers Wentz has tried to target the most. Those two are currently on pace to be worse than the infamous receiver duo of Todd Pinkston and James Thrash of the early-2000s.
Not only have they been bad overall, but with Jackson out of the lineup the big passing plays have been sucked out of this offense. The entire wide receivers group is on pace to be as bad as the 1999 Eagles receiving group, which had the likes of Charles Johnson, Torrance Small and NA freaking BROWN.
It's no secret that Doug Pederson's offense works better with a deep threat involved. Just take a look at what Carson Wentz has been able to do in his career with Torrey Smith/DeSean Jackson on the field (his only speed threats of his career):
•13-2 record
•319/518
•61.6%
•3,848 passing yards
•37 touchdowns
•7 interceptions
•102.5 rating
So since it's no secret that this offense only works well with a deep threat, why has Howie Roseman been trying to add receivers over the age of 30 to become the speed guy in the offense?
Now that Howie has struck out in back-to-back years with his speed guy additions, I think it is pretty clear what his plan should be: draft *at least one* speed demon receiver in the 2020 draft. Nelson Agholor is likely on his way out, which means that the Eagles 2020 receivers should be Alshon Jeffery (only because his 2020 dead cap is more than the potential cap relief), DeSean Jackson, the newly drafted speed guy, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, and either a second guy drafted or cheap free agent (a la Jordan Matthews).
The rest of the 2019 season won't be pretty for the current receiving corps, but since we now know how Doug Pederson's offense works best, it's safe to believe that Howie Roseman will be making a young deep threat a priory this upcoming offseason.
