DeVonta Smith, Jalen Reagor, Quez Watkins May Become Best WR Trio in Eagles History
PHILADELPHIA – Maybe the Eagles and GM Howie Roseman have finally gotten it right once again.
Maybe DeVonta Smith, Jalen Reagor, and Quez Watkins will become the best pass-catching trio in the history of the franchise.
It’s a high bar set previously by the best threesome of receivers the Eagles have had: DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Jason Avant.
Jackson, Maclin, and Avant were high draft picks and played together for a five-year stretch, from 2009 through 2013.
Do you want some ridiculous numbers during the time they spent together?
Jackson: 294 catches, 5,205 yards, 30 touchdowns.
Maclin: 258 catches, 3,453, 26 TDs. That doesn’t count the final season they all would have played together, 2013, since he tore an ACL during training camp that summer and didn’t play that year.
Avant: 235 catches, 2,934 yards, 7 TDs.
DeSean Jackson
Jerry Habraken/USA Today
The clock begins ticking on this latest trio of Eagles receivers and how good they can be together on Sept. 12 when the season opens against the Atlanta Falcons.
If summer is any indication, the three have a chance to grow together and become the best threesome this city has seen, perhaps even better than Jackso-Maclin-Avant.
It may take a few games to get them rolling, and remember the previous best haf a five-year stretch together.
Smith, Reagor, and Watkins each have speed versatility, capable of lining up outside position or inside.
Watkins has gotten the majority of snaps this summer in the slot, but Smith and Reagor can dip inside, too.
Speed and versatility can be a lethal combination for a defense to guard against.
“I think any time you're like, ‘Hey, I got two players right here, who do I want, this guy or this guy?” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “They're similar skillsets but this guy is way faster.’ You are always going to pick the faster guy. The game in general speed helps you, so it's nice to have those three guys that can really run. They help it in every aspect.
“They blow the top off the coverage in the pass game, and they can run their guys out of there in the run game, and they can not only run guys out of there, but if you have major speed, teams will play different defenses and keep a lighter box to help out in the run game as well.
“So, we're hoping that's the case here with these guys, that defenses look at us like that and we get lighter boxes because they are afraid of the deep ball and the big play.”
Smith was added to the group just this past spring, the 10th overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Reagor was a first-round pick in 2020 while Watkins lasted until the sixth round in that same draft, the 200th player taken overall.
“It’s really growing bigger and bigger every day,” said Watkins on Wednesday, when asked by SI.com Eagle Maven what the chemistry has been like between the three WRs. “We keep hanging out, spending time off the field, and the chemistry is growing every day.”
By comparison, Avant arrived first, drafted in the fourth round in 2006, the 109th player taken overall.
Jackson was next, coming in the second round of the 2008 draft, the 49th player taken overall. He had first-round talent but some off-the-field concerns, issues that were proven false or he was able to overcome, caused him to slip.
Maclin was the third of the trio. He was taken in the first round of the 2009 draft, the 19th overall pick, and was the last receiver to top 1,000 yards for the Eagles, doing it in 2014, the year after missing the season rehabbing his ACL tear. He had 85 catches for 1,318 yards and 10 touchdowns that year.
It makes sense that one of this new trio will be the next to go over 1,000.
They are not only good enough to do it, but they figure to be around for a while.
Smith and Reagor are just 22, and Watkins is 23.
As an added bonus, the quarterback they are building their chemistry with, Jalen Hurts, turned 23 in early August.
“All three big-time playmakers,” said Hurts. “Fast, can catch the ball well, and they’re taking steps every day. They’re growing, and learning, like myself. It’s good to see. I’m happy to be a part of it with them. I’m excited for them all.”
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
