Eagles Receiver Willingly Makes Sacrifice For Team

Receivers are popping up as potential first-round picks for the Eagles in various mock drafts. It's difficult to make it make sense.

The Eagles have two superstars in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, both of whom are locked in through most of what remains of this decade. They traded a third-round pick a two seventh-rounders to the Commanders for Dotson and a fifth-round selection in August.

Dotson is a solid, dependable receiver, a first-round pick of Washington just three years ago, who didn’t see much traffic with Brown, Smith, tight end Dallas Goedert, and running back Saquon Barkley in the fold.

“It’s been mentally challenging, something that I had to really think about, like how do I want to go about this?” said Dotson before the Eagles headed into the offseason as Super Bowl LIX champions.

“For me, I’m a type of guy that I’m a team-first guy. I want to do anything possible to make sure that we end with a ‘W’ on Sundays. That was kind of the role I took this year, and it paid off. I was that kind of glue guy to get things going. Sometimes things didn’t show up on the stat sheet, but you know, I know I’m doing my part. That’s what I live with.”

Dotson had 19 catches for 216 yards in the regular season. He added three catches for 53 yards and one TD in four postseason games. He nearly added a second touchdown against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl but was ruled down at the 1-yard line. A tush push from quarterback Jalen Hurts finished off the drive for the first score of a game that would grow into a rout.

Dotson’s catch was initially ruled a touchdown before being overturned on replay.

Eagles WR Jahan Dotson | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

“I knew I was down,” he said. “I was hoping they would say it was a touchdown, but I knew I was down. (Still) it was pretty cool.

“I feel like it’s kind of been my experience here in Philly a little bit where you never know when things can happen for you. You never know when your opportunity is going to be. But you gotta be ready for it. The game was kind of at a stalemate a little bit. And I kind of got things going for us.”

Why make another receiver, drafted in the first round, live with what Dotson had to adjust to this season, accepting that he would rarely be the first option or the second in most cases?

That’s why it’s difficult to accept one NFL Media writer having the Eagles trading up to take Ohio State’s pass-catcher Emeka Egbuka while another has them staying put at No. 32 to take Missouri receiver Luther Burden.

Feels like an unnecessary use of resources to take one that high.

Perhaps later in the draft, the Eagles will find a receiver, because the depth after the top three is still developing after general manager Howie Roseman spent a fifth-round pick on Ainias Smith last year and a sixth-rounder on Johnny Wilson.

“That’s what it takes when you want to win at anything in life,” said Dotson. “You gotta sacrifice. There has got to be people willing to sacrifice for the greater good. We had a lot of people like that on our team.

“It just goes to show the type of people we have in this locker room, a lot of selfless people who all want to come together for the common goal. That’s why we were all able to have such a special year.”

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