The Eagles May Need To Look Outside Current Roster For WR3

One of the biggest camp battles for the Eagles was who would be WR3. Even with having arguably the best duo at WR for the past two seasons, that 3rd guy has left much to be desired. Quez Watkins had every chance in the world to take that job and run with it, but he has more sour memories for fans here than he does positive ones.

So this off-season, they moved on. But did they find a proper replacement? They drafted a couple of guys, Johnny Wilson and Ainias Smith, and also brought in a couple of veterans, Parris Campbell and John Ross. Wilson has shown a little something, but outside him, WR3 is still a mystery, and it's unclear if, with such high expectations, they feel comfortable relying on a 6th-round rookie like Wilson.

When Tim McManus joined The Best Show Ever this week, he suggested the Eagles might look outside the current roster for that WR3. He even gave them a place where he thinks they could go shopping.

Tim McManus made it clear that he is not reporting anything. He does not know about any talks between the two teams, at least not that he is telling us about. It is just a suggestion, but it is a suggestion that makes sense.

The Texans have a surplus there. They have WR depth for days. With Stephon Diggs, Tank Dell, and Nico Collins, they don't need all 3 of those other guys. The Eagles have a severe lack of depth. If AJ Brown or Devonta Smith go down, there is no one you could feel good about filling in, even for a couple of weeks. Parris Campbell and John Ross were available and cheap for a reason, it has yet to work out anywhere else for them.

You would not expect those other 3 to cost too much. Someone like Robert Woods is the type of guy you can trust to be the 3rd guy, but could also maybe step into a bigger role for a week or 2. You wouldn't want him to be the guy, but they wouldn't ask him to be the guy. He would come here and be the 5th option.

Noah Brown had 500+ yards in each of the past 2 seasons despite not being the main guy. John Metchie would be more of a gamble, his 2-year career has thus far been marred by injuries, but he could be a buy-low guy with a big payoff. He is only a few years removed from being a 2nd round pick. Robert Woods has around 500 yards in each of the past 2 seasons.

Howie Roseman loves making late training camp moves. If he sees a hole in the Eagles roster, he will try to plug it. He did that with CJ Gardner Johnson in 2022, and he did it with Ronald Darby in 2017. Maybe this year he does it on offense, and finally gets the true WR 3 they have been looking for the last several seasons.

Howie Roseman has been the Eagles GM for 14 seasons. Most of that span was a roller coaster ride. Fans have called for his head multiple times. But now, he is a sure-fire Hall of Famer, a 2 time Super Bowl champion, and maybe one of the most popular men in the city.

The draft, more than anything, was once a source of fans' ire towards him. Right now, he is on a crazy hot streak with his picks, specifically in the 1st round. But that has not always been the case. So ahead of this draft, I thought it might be fun to look back at his picks and do a redraft with the power of hindsight.

I went back through every pick in the Howie Roseman era. Some in fairness to him, may not have been his picks. It is murky who was running the show in the Chip Kelly years and in the Andy Reid years. Still, he took over for Joe Banner in 2010. So every pick from then on was included.

For a long time, the Eagles got flak for this pick. Everyone thought they should have taken Earl Thomas instead. And for the first several years after the draft, having Earl Thomas probably would have been better for them. But over a decade later, it is clear they made the right pick. The forced fumble in the Super Bowl alone makes him worth the pick. But he is also near the top in sacks in franchise history and has played more games in an Eagles jersey than any other player.

Literally anybody else would have been an acceptable answer here. Danny Watkins is one of the biggest busts in Eagles' history. The only thing that keeps him from taking that crown is that he was picked 23rd overall.

It just so happens that the very next pick after him is one of the better edge rushers from the past decade. Cameron Jordan went on to have 6 double-digit sack seasons. Danny Watkins didn't even last 6 total seasons in the NFL.

There was no hand-wringing about this one. Cox is a borderline Hall of Famer. He is one of the greatest Eagles players of this century. There was no one taken after him I even considered taking instead.

Another one that is not even in question. Not just because Lane Johnson turned into one of the best Tackles in Football, but also because pretty much no one else in that first round turned into a good player. Only 4 players from that 1st round are left standing. Of them, D’Andre Hopkins is the only player close to being of Lane's caliber.

Marcus Smith was a complete bust for them. They spent the 26th pick on him hoping he would be their next great pass rusher. He finished his career with 6.5 sacks. 4 of which came with the Eagles. Instead, they now get one of the best WRs from the past 10 years. I also considered Joel Bitonio, who is one of the best Offensive Guards in that same time. But with how much the Eagles struggled at WR in the next 6 years after this pick, I want the elite WR if I can get him.

Looking at the players taken around Agholor, Landon Collins is who I went with. He was discussed as an option for the Eagles at the time. He went on to be one of the better Box Safeties in the league for several years. Agholor has had an okay career but never lived up to the 1st round billing. To be fair, we can’t blame Howie for this one. It was all Chip Kelly.

Did the player himself work out? It's debatable. He was not the next franchise QB. But do they win the Super Bowl if they never drafted him? I don’t think so. So while there are definitely better players selected after him, I can’t justify taking anyone else. We would never have had a Super Bowl parade if it weren’t for Wentz.

Barnett did not pan out at all. His rookie season was promising, and he recovered the fumble in the Super Bowl. But he did more bad than good for them in his time wearing Midnight Green. Instead, the Eagles end up with an All-Pro Cornerback. Humphrey has been a cornerstone of the Ravens' defense since this draft. The Eagles, meanwhile, struggled to find corners in he draft before and after this season, only finally breaking that curse last season with Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper Dejean.

Dillard barely ever played for the Eagles. Jordan Mailata wound up stealing his spot. So clearly this one is getting redrafted. But for who? There were a lot of options, but I went with someone they would later acquire in a trade. AJ Brown.

Brown wound up going early in the 2nd round, but he was talked about as a late 1st round type of player. Instead of struggling at WR for years after this, they would have had AJ Brown for his full career, and would have given Wentz, who was still the franchise guy at the time, something to actually work with.

This one is obvious. Not only was the guy they took a major bust but perhaps the best WR in the NFL went a pick after Reagor. It was a bad pick at the time. Now it is one of the worst misses in franchise history. It eventually worked out for the Eagles because they ended up with an elite duo of AJ Brown and Devonta Smith. But in this case, they have Justin Jefferson and AJ Brown, and will be able to use that 1st round pick they eventually trade for Brown on something else.

This has nothing to do with Smith. He was and still is a great pick. But in this case, the Eagles would already have AJ Brown and Justin Jefferson. So they don’t really need another WR, no matter how good he is. Would the Cowboys have made that trade if they thought the Eagles would take Parsons? Probably not. But let's just have some fun and pretend the Eagles did land one of the best defenders of this generation.

Jordan Davis is very good at what he does. In terms of run-stopping Nose Tackles, he is great. That said, Kyle Hamilton is clearly the best player 3 years in. That is nothing against Davis, just an acknowledgment of how good Hamilton has been for the Ravens.

In this case, the Eagles already have AJ Brown. So now they can use this pick instead of trading it. They land one of the best young cornerbacks in the NFL. Trent McDuffie could have been the Chiefs MVP in Super Bowl 58. He kept them in that game until Mahomes turned it on.

Eagles get an All-Pro corner, and end up with AJ Brown anyway, best of both worlds.

Jalen Carter is one of the best defensive players in the league. His stats, while good, don't show half of how good he really is. The guy opens up so much for this defense, letting everyone around him put up stats thanks to how much opposing defenses have to focus on Carter. It was absolutely the right pick at the time, and with hindsight it only looks better.

A year ago, this did not look like the right pick. Let that be a lesson on being patient. Smith was a key figure on the Eagles defense last season.

He got out of the gates slowly. But after 4 games, he took off. In his next 16 games he racked up 10.5 sacks, including 4 in the playoffs. Now, with Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat gone, he is their primary Edge Rusher. They would be lost had they drafted anyone else besides him at 31.

Would they need Q considering they would already have Humphrey and McDuffie? Maybe not. But unlike with the Smith-Parsons situation, there was no player as good as Q drafted after him that was a good fit. Q is by far the best player taken in his vicinity. So now the Eagles just have 3 All-Pro Caliber Corners.

This would mean they don't take DeJean in the 2nd round, but we are not redrafting the 2nd round here, so I don't have to open that can of worms. Or maybe they take him anyway, and unlike what the song says, Cooper Dejean would be a safety.