Philadelphia Eagles: Full Position Breakdown and Depth Chart at Wide Receiver
There's not a position on the Philadelphia Eagles roster that has undergone more dramatic changes during head coach Chip Kelly's three offseasons than wide receiver has.
During Kelly's rookie season in 2013, DeSean Jackson caught 82 passes for 1,332 yards and nine touchdowns, easily the most productive season of his career. But for a number of reasons, Kelly chose to release the three-time Pro Bowl receiver during the offseason. He replaced Jackson with Jordan Matthews, a second-round talent, and Josh Huff, a third-round talent.
In 2014, Jeremy Maclin rebounded from a torn ACL to catch 85 passes for 1,318 yards and 10 touchdowns. Like Jackson, Maclin had the best campaign of his career, and he was selected to the Pro Bowl for the first time since he was picked in the first round in 2009.
But the Eagles lost a bidding war with head coach Andy Reid's Kansas City Chiefs, which inked Maclin to a five-year, $55 million deal. As a result, the Eagles drafted USC product Nelson Agholor in the first round of this year's draft.
In the last two offseasons, there's been some dramatic turnaround for the Eagles at the wide receiver position. The following slides will highlight the depth chart, in order, heading into the 2015 season.
Jordan Matthews
1 of 7
Jordan Matthews was the seventh wide receiver picked in the 2014 draft, behind Sammy Watkins, Mike Evans, Odell Beckham Jr., Brandin Cooks, Kelvin Benjamin and Marqise Lee. Five of the six played better than Matthews during their rookie seasons.
Yet expectations for Matthews heading into 2015 are just as high as they were when the Eagles picked him 42nd overall a year ago.
As a rookie, Matthews caught 67 passes for 872 yards and eight touchdowns. He developed his best chemistry with backup quarterback Mark Sanchez, recording all three 100-yard receiving games in the second half of the season.
In 2015, the pressure is on for Matthews, who played more than 90 percent of his snaps in the slot in 2014. All eight touchdowns came from the slot, too, the second most in the National Football League behind Green Bay's Randall Cobb.
Kelly has said that he wants to give Matthews more time on the outside in 2014, and the guess is that Matthews easily wins one of the two starting spots outside.
Nelson Agholor
2 of 7
The Eagles expect their first-round selection in the 2015 draft, Nelson Agholor, to compete for one of the two starting spots on the outside.
Agholor, a dominant receiver at USC, is basically a clone of Maclin when it comes to physical characteristics. They're the same height (6'0"), weight (198 pounds) and speed, and it's safe to expect Agholor to have just as much success as Maclin—if not more.
The 22-year-old is one of the first players to show up to the NovaCare Complex each day. He's been mentioned as a top fantasy rookie selection in 2015, and it's fair to expect the Eagles to use him both outside and inside in 2015.
Oh, and he can return kicks, too.
Josh Huff
3 of 7
Considering Josh Huff's success with Chip Kelly at Oregon, it's surprising to see how poorly the third-round pick performed during his rookie season.
Huff caught just eight passes for 98 yards while dropping four balls and fumbling twice. He did show some breakaway speed, which included a 107-yard kick-return touchdown to open the game against the Tennessee Titans and a 44-yard catch-and-run against the Dallas Cowboys.
But his mental mistakes, like his role in the opening-play fumble against Dallas in Week 15, overshadowed his rare moments of success.
It's not uncommon for rookie receivers to struggle, though, and with the 2014 leading receiver gone, Huff could be in line for a bigger role in 2015. It makes a lot of sense for the Eagles to use the small, speedy receiver in the slot while keeping the top two receivers, Matthews and Agholor, on the outside.
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Riley Cooper
4 of 7
Everybody's favorite punching bag on the Eagles, Riley Cooper's numbers tailed off dramatically in 2014.
A year after breaking out with 47 catches for 835 yards and eight touchdowns, Cooper caught just 51 passes for 577 yards and three touchdowns in 2014. His second year as a starter in Kelly's offense, Cooper's season looks even worse when you remember that he was in the first year of a five-year, $25 million extension signed last offseason.
However, Cooper wasn't nearly as good as his numbers suggested in 2013. He benefited primarily from a successful quarterback in Nick Foles, a legitimate deep threat in DeSean Jackson and a few lucky games against teams like the Oakland Raiders. In 2014, Cooper dealt with two underachieving quarterbacks, no Jackson and no big games.
With Kelly in control, expect Cooper's snaps to significantly drop in 2015, even with his ability to block on the outside part of the field. There's no justification in keeping him on the field over Huff, whose explosiveness has him as a legitimate breakout candidate this season.
Miles Austin
5 of 7
Several years ago, Miles Austin was one of the best receivers in the NFL. He emerged from nowhere to turn in Pro Bowl seasons in 2009 and 2010, but he's now almost 31 years old, with his best years behind him.
Austin did catch 47 passes for 568 yards and two touchdowns for the Cleveland Browns in 2014, but that's hardly worth bragging about. Those numbers are similar to Cooper's, and they earned Austin a one-year deal in free agency with the only team that showed any interest in him.
Expect Austin to make the team as the fifth wide receiver. He's an established veteran who could fill in for a few games in case of an injury, but if he catches 25 passes, I'll be surprised.
Seyi Ajirotutu
6 of 7
There's one reason the Eagles signed veteran wide receiver Seyi Ajirotutu: his abilities as a special teamer.
The San Diego Chargers named Ajirotutu as their 2014 special teams player of the year, but he flew under the radar in free agency, drawing almost no attention. Although the Eagles inked Ajirotutu to a one-year deal, they didn't give the 27-year-old any guaranteed money—meaning they could cut him at any time without a cap penalty.
It'll take a big training-camp showing from Ajirotutu if he wants to make the team, as he's currently sixth on the depth chart behind Matthews, Agholor, Huff, Cooper and Austin.
The Rest
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The rest of the depth chart for the Eagles contains six wide receivers: Devante Davis, Jeff Maehl, Rasheed Bailey, Quron Pratt, John Harris and G.J. Kinne.
Davis, who went undrafted after a stellar college career, has a solid chance to earn a spot on the final roster. He was a standout receiver at UNLV, especially in 2013, when he caught 87 passes for 1,290 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Maehl has managed to stick around on the Eagles for two seasons, catching nine passes and a touchdown, but the former Oregon grad has almost no shot to make the team in 2015.
Bailey is an intriguing story because he played at a local Division III school, Delaware Valley, where he turned in a ridiculous 80 catches for 1,707 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2014. But the odds of the D-III graduate making the leap to the NFL are a long shot.
Pratt, a former Rutgers star, has been with the Eagles on their practice squad for over a season, but he's never played in a game.
Harris, an undrafted free-agent receiver out of Texas, has a chance to earn a spot on the practice squad with a huge training camp.
Converted quarterback G.J. Kinne rounds up the rest of the team's receivers. He's a tremendous athlete—a player the Eagles have used at quarterback, at receiver and on special teams—but his ceiling seems to be another season on the practice squad.
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