3 Concerning Questions Facing Makai Lemon, Dontayvion Wicks, and Eagles WR Position

Trading A.J. Brown was going to have its repercussions. The Philadelphia Eagles had a glimpse of how difficult life would be without Brown in minicamp.

DeVonta Smith was missing from the last practice for personal reasons. Makai Lemon was out with a hamstring injury. That's two of the Eagles' top three receivers.

The Eagles have Dontayvion Wicks, Hollywood Brown, and Johnny Wilson as the top three wideouts. They are long gone from the days of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith terrorizing defenses.

Life does go on in Philadelphia, as the Eagles are optimistic the wide recievers will be good when all of them are on the field together. There are a lot of positives with this group, but some significant questions that have to be answered this summer.

We're focusing on wide receiver in our position-by-position series, asking three questions regarding the state of the position. We previously focused on quarterback and running back in our training camp preview series, which you can check below.

Three questions at quarterback: What is Tanner McKee's future?

Three pressing questions at running back: Is Saquon Barkley back?

Can Dontayvion Wicks step up as the WR2?

Wicks is a relative unknown in terms of how productive he can be in an elevated role.

The Eagles gave Wicks a vote of confidence by giving him an extra year on his contract when acquiring him, a $12.5 million pay raise in the 2027 season. This is basiclaly a two-year trial for Wicks, but the Eagle sneed him to produce immediately.

Wicks is the one receiver that knows the basis of Sean Mannion's offense from his time in Green Bay. He's a good route runner than can gain separation and find himself open.

Can he catch the football consistently? Wicks makes the easy catches look harder than what they should be and is inconsistant at the catch point. He needs to be better at that aspect of his game if he's going to consistently produce as the WR2.

Replacing A.J. Brown isn't the hard part. Who's going to replace DeVonta Smith? Wicks is going to get the first crack at that job.

Is there too much pressure on Makai Lemon?

Simply put, yes.

This is also the circumstance of wide receivers being more polished than ever when coming into the NFL. Many become instant contributors to an offense, which is what the Eagles expect Lemon to be as a WR2 or Wr3.

Lemon is already an excellent receiver in the slot, so he should have no problem adapting to that role if the Eagles have him play the majority of the snaps there. The Eagles do want to develop Lemon as an outside receiver, so that will be added to his plate.

Lemon should have reasonable expectations this seaosn. Having 50 catches is a good start. Having 600 yards is a good start.

Don't expect a DeVonta Smith-type rookie season at the moment. This summer could change things, but patience will be key with Lemon. He's a good reciever, but is also trying to be 100% aftera hamstring injury this spring.

Let's see how Lemon handles his first training camp.

Is Hollywood Brown going to steal the WR2 job?

Don't count Brown out of this mix, not after the spring he had.

Brown was arguably the Eagles' best receiver outside of DeVonta Smith -- and it showed in minicamp. He was proving himself to be a deep ball threat for Jalen Hurts and finding ways to get open.

Easy to forget Brown was a first-round pick and a productive receiver until a foot injury a few years ago slowed him down. He showed signs of a resurgence last year.

Brown's average air yards per target last season was 11.30 -- the highest it's been in a full season since 2023 (11.74). Brown also averaged 3.9 yards after the catch per reception, his highest average since 2021 (4.3). If Brown is utilized correctly, he's going to produce in the Eagles offense.

Brown is a dark horse to win the WR2 job, but Wicks and lemon are going to get every opportunity. Even if the targets are limited for Brown, he still should get more chances to shine in the offense.

If Brown does win the WR2, that says more about Wicks and Lemon -- which is a concern for the wide receiver position going forward. Brown is a good receiver, who seems to be over his foot injury from a few years ago.

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