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In Olamide Zaccheaus The Eagles Find Competition For Watkins

Placeholder Shilloutte User Image By The Best Show Ever? and Dylan MacKinnon April 19th
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JANUARY 08: Olamide Zaccheaus #17 of the Atlanta Falcons runs the ball after a catch during the fourth quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 08, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Quez Watkins was a bit disappointing last season. He had just 33 catches for 354 yards and 3 TDs. He also had several drops and mistakes in key moments. All of which just so happened to come in the two losses they had with Jalen Hurts playing. After his disappointing performance in the Super Bowl, many fans wanted to Eagles fans to find a new option in the slot for the 2023 season. And now the Eagles have done just that. They brought in Olamide Zaccheaus, who spent his last 4 seasons with the Falcons.

Olamide Zaccheaus did not make much of an impact in his first two seasons. Between 2019 and 2020 he had just 23 catches for 289 yards and two TDS. But in his past two seasons, he has broken out a little bit. Last season was a career year for him, racking up 533 yards on 40 catches with 3 TDs.

Nothing that will land him on a Pro Bowl team. But a more successful season than Quez Watkins had, despite having a much worse Qb situation than Quez. Granted he also had less competition. He had 13.3 yards per target, thanks to 9 catches of 20 yards or more.

Nicknamed Oz, Zaccheaus is a local kid, who grew up in Plainfield, NJ, and played his high school ball at St Joe’s Prep. He spent his College years at Virginia, racking up 250 receptions for 2,753 yards and 22 touchdowns in his time there. Like Quez Watkins, he is a speedster. At Virginia, he spent time at both WR and RB. But at 5 ft 8, he lacks the ideal size for an NFL WR. it hasn’t impacted him too much though, as he put together two productive seasons in a row with the Falcons.

With the Eagles already have AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert, there will likely not be many targets to go around. So Olamide Zaccheaus and Quez Watkins will be competing for targets.

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The 6 Performances That Show Jalen Hurts is Worth Every Penny

Jalen Hurts is going to be the Eagles’ Qb for a while. Coming off his MVP-caliber season, he signed a 5-year extension, making him the highest-paid player in NFL history. While that is a title that may not last long, considering Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert are also in line for new contracts, it puts him in that top tier of QBs, which is exactly where he belongs. As expensive as he will be going forward, Jalen Hurts is worth every penny.

Hurts was the runner-up MVP. You could argue he played even better than the Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes. The Eagles lost just two games he played in last season. Yes, one of those was the Super Bowl, but it is hard to blame him for that given how well he played. And contrary to what some people say, he is not just a running QB. He developed into a hell of a pocket QB, with a QB rating over 100 in the pocket last season. Hurts threw 22 TDs with just 6 interceptions playing in the pocket last season. Yes, he can kill you with his legs. But he is just as capable of killing teams with his arm too.

And off the field, it is hard to find a player more beloved than him. AJ Brown came out in the offseason and said if the Eagles didn’t pay Hurts, he would follow him wherever he goes. Ndamukong Suh went on the Rich Eisen show to gush about Hurts. You won’t find a single guy Hurts plays with who has anything short of glowing praise.

Jalen Hurts is a star. And as much as this deal will cost, he is worth it. In case you forgot that fact, let’s look back at some of his best performances from this past year.

Here are the 5 performances from last season that show Jalen Hurts is worth every penny…

  • Superbowl LVII- Hurts Goes Toe to Toe with Patrick Mahomes 

    Yes, the Eagles lost the Super Bowl. But it was not because of Jalen Hurts. He turned in what may be the best performance by the losing QB in Super Bowl history. 304 yards through the air, 70 on the ground, and 4 total TDs. He had an answer for everything the Chiefs did. When the Eagles trailed by 8 late in the game, he went down, rushed for a TD, then tied it up with a 2pt conversion. And maybe if his defense got a single stop and gave him a chance with time at the end of the game, he may have done it again for the win. 

    Alas, that did not happen. The defense couldn’t get off the field. By the time Hurts got the ball back, it was with no time to do anything but a trick play. Still, he did everything in his power to win that game. Even after his fumble that went the other way for a TD, he came right back to get those points back for the Eagles. 

  • 12/4- Hurts Throws it All Over the Titans 

    Hurts is a dynamic threat with his legs. But it is a discredit to him to talk about him as a running QB. Because he can be just as much of a threat with his arms. For proof of that, look no further than his performance vs the Titans. 380 passing yards, and 3 TDS. Two of those went to AJ Brown, and the other to Devonta Smith. Both of whom went for over 100 receiving yards.  

    While having two dynamic WRs like Brown and Smith helps, they benefit from Hurts just as much. A great play needs both a great catch and a great throw. And that is what we saw on this connection in this game between Hurts and Brown.  

  • 11/27- Hurts Runs All Over the Packers 

    Of course, when Hurts does want to run, he can do so like an elite RB. When he faced the Packers, they thought they would throw him off by blitzing with man coverage. So Hurts just decided to run all over them. 157 yards on the ground in total. His passing numbers in this game did not jump off the charts. But they didn’t need to. The great thing about Hurts is that he can beat you in so many different ways. If you sell out to stop the run as the Titans did, he will shred you through the air. And if you don’t, like the Packers did, he will do this to you. 

  • 10/30- Hurts Finds AJ Brown Deep 3 Times 

    If you liked that connection between Hurts and Brown in the Titans game, it happened 3 times vs the Steelers. Hurts had a way all year of throwing the deep ball to the exact right spot where only AJ Brown could make a play on it. That was on full display vs the Steelers. Hurts threw for 4 TDs, 3 on deep balls to Brown, and 285 total yards. It was another example of a game where Hurts didn’t even need his legs to make the other team pay. His arm did all the talking on this day. 

  • 9/25- Hurts Outduels Wentz To Show Eagles Made the Right Choice 

    At one point, Carson Wentz was the answer for the Eagles at QB. It did not work out. The Eagles drafted Hurts, and by the next season, he had taken Wentz’s job, and Wentz was traded. A year after that, Wentz was on another new team and was facing off with Jalen Hurts. Hurts won that battle easily. While the Eagles’ pass rush tormented Wentz, Hurts tormented the Commander’s secondary. 340 yards, 3 TDs, on the way to a 24-8 win. And most of the damage was in the first half before the Eagles took their foot off the gas.  

  • 9/19- Hurts Declares Himself as a Star in Week 2 vs the Vikings 

    Hurts’ looked good in week 1. But it was not quite enough to answer questions people had of him coming into the season. His week 2 performance vs the Vikings did just that though. By the end of the Vikings game, he had thrown for 333 yards, 300 of which came in the first half, and put together some tough runs, to help carry the Eagles to a 24-7 win over the Vikings. All on Prime Time. It was Hurts announcing to the league that he was not the same QB they saw last season. A promise he kept up all season through the Super Bowl.  

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