The Philadelphia Eagles are in the market for a wide receiver. Stop us if you've heard this before.
The franchise has failed to solidify the position needed for a quarterback to thrive. From the early years of Donovan McNabb to the controversial release of DeSean Jackson nearly a decade ago, Philadelphia can't find the right resources and build an elite wide receiver group. Part of the reason why the Eagles can't find a franchise quarterback.
Since Jackson was released nearly a decade ago, the Eagles have just had one good season of Alshon Jeffery at wide receiver (of course they won the Super Bowl). The franchise knows how valuable wide receiver is in the pass-happy NFL and have tried to recreate the steps that led to the Jackson and Jeremy Maclin combo.
The first step in that process was Jalen Reagor, the team's first-round pick from 2020. Philadelphia took Reagor one spot ahead of Justin Jefferson, the only player to ever record 3,000 receiving yards through his first two seasons. Thanks to the Reagor selection, the Eagles had to find their No. 1 wide receiver the next year in trading up for DeVonta Smith.
Smith has lived up to that billing in year one, but the Eagles haven't had much help with him (the biggest contributor was Quez Watkins -- who has outperformed Reagor as a 2020 sixth-round pick). As Eagles general manager Howie Roseman decided to sit on the sidelines in the wide receiver sweepstakes, the pressure is on to draft another playmaking wide receiver to compliment Smith.
The Eagles shouldn't have to go through this again -- drafting a wide receiver in the first round. Yet here they are, as Roseman is still haunted by selecting Reagor over Jefferson two years later.
"We discussed that a lot about the scenarios where we've done good things and how obviously this is a hard process. You're going to mess things up, but what can you learn from those picks that didn't work out," Roseman said Wednesday, referring about Reagor. "I know he (Reagor) gets a lot of attention in this city and I know he's working his butt off, and when you look back -- we were having this conversation this morning with our strength and conditioning staff -- that was a hard year for some guys because you had COVID, you didn't have an off-season program, and so sometimes the book isn't necessarily written on all those guys."
Reagor has just 64 catches for 695 yards and three touchdowns in two seasons. Smith and Quez Watkins each had more receiving yards in 2021 than Reagor has had in his career.
The Reagor selection has forced the Eagles to upgrade at wide receiver again, as Philadelphia may become the first team since the 2003 to 2005 Detroit Lions to take a wide receiver in the first round three consecutive years.
This is the position the Eagles have put themselves in, the pressure to hit in the first round if Philadelphia truly wants a Super Bowl contender again. The Eagles have two chances to get it right, one of which may be wide receiver again -- even with the many holes on their roster.
"All this information is at your fingertips," Roseman said. "And it just makes everything narrower and your margin for error narrower."
