Philadelphia Eagles Training Camp Position Preview: Outside Wide Receivers
As much love as I gave to the slot receivers in my last camp piece, the outside wide outs are everything when it comes to a vertical passing attack. Slot receivers are great short yardage down receivers, tight ends can be match-up nightmares, but the outside wide receivers set everything up. They stretch the defense, they open up the run game and they’re typically one of the quarterbacks first two reads.
These are the receivers that make the big money and sell the most jerseys. The Eagles are coming to camp with two established veterans, two promising young players and a couple veterans who have bounced around a little bit that are certainly capable of making an NFL roster. It’s a really good group that will help out the second and third string quarterbacks in preseason and push some of the younger guys to develop quickly this summer.
Alshon Jeffery
He only had 789 yards in the regular season, but his play in the postseason and the extra attention he demanded all season were so crucial to the Eagles Super Bowl run. He also played a big chunk of the season on a torn rotator cuff. Look for Jeffery to have an even bigger year now with familiarity in the offense.
Mike Wallace
Wallace was brought in to take over Torrey Smith’s role, but I believe he’s actually going to be a massive upgrade. Wallace had has just one season where he failed to rack up at least 700 yards(2015 with Minnesota). Wallace has proven to be a capable deep threat. He’s never had more than 73 catches in a single season, but he’s gone over 8 touchdowns and 900 yards 4 times in his previous 9 seasons.
Wallace is going to split time on the outside with Mack Hollins and Nelson Agholor. He won’t be on the field 100% of the time or even 75%, but safeties will have to take note when he is and give him the proper cushion, even more so than defenses did with Torrey Smith.
Mack Hollins
I really have no idea what to make of Hollins at this point. He’s an outstanding special teams player with a very unclear future at wide receiver. When I watched his college tape prior to the 2017 NFL Draft, I saw a really promising height/weight/speed prospect with a limited route tree and questionable hands. He didn’t get enough reps in his rookie season to determine what kind of receiver he will be at this level(16/226/1).
This year should give us a better idea if Hollins can develop into an all-around outside receiver, or if he’s more of a special teams stand out who can be an occasional deep threat.
Shelton Gibson
Gibson had one of the worst camps I’ve ever seen from a rookie that was actually drafted. He dropped everything and didn’t demonstrate much of a route tree. He was drafted to be a future replacement for Torrey Smith(now Mike Wallace), but his hands were so bad, most didn’t think he would even make the 53 man roster. He did, but spent the first 11 games inactive on game day.
I believe the Eagles kept Gibson on the roster because they wanted a full season to work with him, develop his routes and give him a chance to improve his hands. This time around they will expect to see more. He won’t have to beat out Wallace, but he’ll have to show he can replace him in 2019, or the Eagles will go a different route with their depth at wide receiver.
Bryce Treggs
Treggs is back once again to fit for a roster spot. Treggs was an undrafted free agent who signed with the 49ers in 2016, who was claimed off waivers by the Eagles after final cuts. He was later claimed off their practice squad in 2017 by the Browns, but brought back in December of last season.
Through his first two seasons, Treggs has averaged about 20 yards per game, typically as Cleveland or Philly’s 5th wide out. He’s a nice depth wide receiver to have who can also return kicks and contribute on special teams. He also performs well in preseason which is key when you are trying to get second and third stringers as many reps as possible. Bad play from those depth guys in August means everyone gets less reps. If your third string offense is going three and out on every drive, you’re not going to see that group on the field very often in actual game situations.
I like Treggs and I think he is a really valuable player to have in camp and preseason, but beating out Gibson, Greg Ward and Markus Wheaton is going to be a really tall task. He’ll land on an NFL roster somewhere this season, I just don’t know if it will be in Philly.
Markus Wheaton
Wheaton was really an interesting signing for the Eagles. He’s had a rough last two years in the NFL, but the two years before that he had 1400 yards and 7 touchdowns including another 119 yards in three playoff games. Injuries derailed him, but he has the ability to be a nice third or fourth receiver on any roster.
He’s only had 26 targets over 23 games the past two seasons, so he’s got a lot to prove, but if he’s healthy he’s certainly good enough to make an NFL roster somewhere. Maybe Howie Roseman thought he could demonstrate his talent and August and be a nice trade target right before final cuts. I think even a good showing by Wheaton won’t be enough to make this roster.
Anthony Mahoungou
A raw prospect from France who played his college ball at Purdue(not in France). He didn’t pick up the game until the age of 13 and is an interesting height/weight/speed player(6'4/209/4.5 40).
He had less then 200 total yards in his first two seasons at Purdue and was putting up pretty pedestrian numbers before going off for 341 yards and 5 touchdowns over his final 3 games. Depending how athletic he looks in camp, he could be worth a practice sqaud stash this season. He’s maybe the 10th best wide receiver on the roster right now, but he’s so raw at this point it’s hard to gauge exactly how much growth he can still achieve.
