A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith Give Glimpse of What Eagles Offense Can Look Like
PHILADELPHIA – DeVonta Smith could not be stopped, bursting behind the Eagles' defense not once but twice. The first time was down the right sideline, the other down the left sideline.
Jalen Hurts didn’t miss him either time, hitting Smith in stride for what were long touchdowns.
On the other side, A.J. Brown was doing his part in keeping the secondary honest. They couldn’t overplay on Smith because, well, Brown needed to be accounted for, too.
OK, it was a 50-minute OTA practice in early June. It was seven offensive players going against seven defensive players.
Still, this was a glimpse of what is expected from this offense, with Brown and Smith demanding a defense's attention on the perimeter.
“In my opinion, Smitty is a wide receiver one and he's going against a cornerback number two,” said Brown following Friday’s practice. “I expect Smitty to dominate, you know? So just taking the pressure off of each other and even being on the same side, you know, you can't really double. It's great having another great (WR) beside you.”
Jalen Hurts (1) is surrounded by his WR corps, including A.J. Brown (11) and DeVonta Smith (2)
Philadelphia Eagles
It was an interesting takeaway from Brown, who himself is considered a WR1.
His comments lend credence to the fact that the Eagles do indeed have two receivers who can potentially be a No. 1.
For Brown to even admit that Smith will dominate is something in itself. It reveals that the WR acquired on draft night should be OK if the offense doesn’t always flow his way.
“I think with anything you go into game plans you have three really good players that you have to get the ball to,” said offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, referring to Brown, Smith, and tight end Dallas Goedert.
“Every game is going to be different. I always say this - there's one football, and you have three really good players along with other additions that we have, so we're working through that every single day, and that'll take place through training camp and going into the season.”
It feels a little like a game of pass-catcher roulette – which receiver will be the first to go over 1,000 yards receiving since Jeremy Maclin in 2014 and will Goedert make like Zach Ertz in 2018 when Ertz set an NFL-record 116 catches for tight ends with 1,163 yards and eight scores?
Could two go over 1,000?
Neither one nor two will be an easy feat with, like Steichen alluded, only one ball to go around and many mouths to feed.
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Smith, though, certainly appears headed for that expected jump organizations talk about for players from Year 1 to Year 2.
“He's a really good route runner,” said Brown. “You know, guys early on in their career, like first year or two, they’re still developing. You know he can run every route on the route tree.
"So, just a few nuances of things that, you know, we all can get better at, and just keep turning up our game and keep developing (but) I think the sky's the limit for Smitty. And also, I'm excited for him Year 2 and I'm excited to see the steps he takes."
That 50-minute practice on Friday made something else clear – Hurts’ chemistry with DeVonta Smith is ahead of where it is with Brown. That is to be expected, of course.
Hurts threw deep twice to Brown. The first was underthrown and nearly picked off by Darius Slay. The second was an overthrow.
“The first one I had to break up on Slay and the second one I told (Hurts) anything you do, it's overthrow me,” said Brown. “You know, I'm gonna clear him late as I did and he overthrew me. So, we're still working and we're still trying to get on the same page, but we're really hitting in the right direction. You know, so it's a positive."
Hurts was asked about the development between him and his two No. 1s.
“It’s just been conversations, getting on the same page, reps and reps and reps,” said Hurts about Brown. “I think it’s been good for us to be out here doing some competitive drills. I think that’ll help us at the end.”
About Smith, Hurts added, “I think the time we’ve put in, and the reps we’ve had, I think that is definitely beneficial for our connection. And I think it’ll be good for the football team.
"I think it’s important to continue to stack days on days, whether that be me throwing with Zach, me throwing with AJ, throwing with DeVonta, Quez (Watkins), whoever.”
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
