Forget Carson Wentz for a Minute, Can Nick Sirianni Fix Eagles WRs?
Take Carson Wentz out of the equation for a moment.
Nick Sirianni is here to fix the quarterback, yes, but the new Eagles coach could also play a big hand in fixing an Eagles wide receiving corps that, in this day of offensive-minded football, hasn’t had a receiver break 1,000 yards since Jeremy Maclin in 2014.
Last year, their top receiver was Alshon Jeffery who couldn’t even reach 500 yards, settling for 490, while this year, Travis Fulgham led the way with a modest 539 yards receiving.
Sirianni is here to fix them, too. At least he should be.
What Sirianni can’t do is run it back with an offense similar to deposed coach Doug Pederson and use more 12 personnel than 11 personnel. The old reliance on a two-tight offense got stale and predictable, besides, Zach Ertz isn’t expected to return this year.
Colts head coach Frank Reich liked 12 personnel, but his tight ends were not exactly offensive threats.
Sirianni adapted his system because that is what Reich wanted, but the hunch here is he will run plenty of three WR sets and maybe even some four because his area of expertise isn’t just lodged in quarterbacks.
Dallas Goedert will get his and maybe Richard Rodgers and/or Josh Perkins, too, if they return, or a draft pick, even, but in San Diego when Sirianni was the WR coach for two years and QB coach for another two years, the offense was receiver driven.
He has done some good work with receivers through the years, having had a hand in producing three pass-catchers since 2016 that have had more than 1,000 yards in a season.
Sirianni is also a former standout college receiver, piling up nearly 1,000 yards receiving in his final year at Mount Union, a Division 3 powerhouse that won a national title with Sirianni on the team.
Maybe he fixes J.J. Arcega-Whiteside?
Maybe he finds a way to unlock Jalen Reagor’s potential?
Maybe there’s a player the Eagles draft with the sixth overall pick – DeVonta Smith or Ja’Marr Chase – that becomes the Eagles' first 1,000-yard receiver in seven years.
Sirianni was in San Diego as an offensive control coach when third-round pick Keenan Allen burst onto the scene with 71 catches, 1,046 yards, and eight touchdowns as a rookie.
In 2017, when Sirianni was in his second season as the Chargers’ WR coach, and after Allen missed all but one game in 2016, Allen came back in 2017 and had 102 catches for 1,393 yards and six scores.
Allen has given Sirianni a lot of credit for helping him develop his game.
While the OC in Indy, Sirianni helped game-plan an offense that made a household name, sort of, out of undrafted free agent Zach Pascal, who went to Old Dominion, the same school as Fulgham.
Pascal’s production has increased in each of his first three years in the league, which coincide with Sirianni’s time as the OC. Pascal went from 27 catches, 268 yards, and two touchdowns to 41-607-5 in 2019 and 46-629-5 this past season.
Rookie Michael Pittman got better as the season went along and ended his first NFL season with 40 receptions for 503 yards with a TD.
In 2016, which was Sirianni’s first year as the Chargers’ WR coach, he found a way to get the ball to Tyrell Williams for 69 catches, 1,059 yards and seven TDs. Williams was complemented by Dontrelle Inmond who had 58 receptions for 810 yards, and four scores, and Travis Benjamin, who had 47 catches for 677 yards and four touchdowns.
The Eagles would take those kinds of numbers from perhaps a Chase or Smith, Reagor, and take your pick of Fulgham, Ward, Quez Watkins, and/or John Hightower. Heck, maybe even Arcega-Whiteside gets into the act.
The Eagles have receivers, it’s time to find ways to make them successful, and Sirianni just might be the best man for that job.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of EagleMaven. Check out anything you may have missed pertaining to the Eagles by going to www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
