Howie Roseman has Transformed the Eagles WR Room in Just Two Years

Only one of seven WRs on the 2020 roster remain and none from the five in 2019 are still with the team

PHILADELPHIA – Nick Sirianni is a former wide receiver coach in Kansas City and San Diego/Los Angeles, but the now-Eagles head coach has just four pass-catchers on his active roster.

In this case, though, quality may win out over quantity.

“They’re all hungry,” said QB Jalen Hurts about his four amigos. “They’re all playmakers and they all want to make plays. I think with the group we have, I think it’s filled with that hunger and desire to do this at a high level. That’s what I like about them. They’re hungry.”

You know the names: A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Quez Watkins, and Zach Pascal. All four have different strengths.

“It helps you because you can get something off their game and put it into yours,” said Smith, citing Brown’s penchant for having ‘late hands’ on some of his catches.

“It helps a lot to see different types of guys instead of seeing the guys who do everything the same. So, it helps everybody be able to do more than one thing instead of being a one-trick pony.”

It’s been a rather remarkable transformation at the position.

It was just two years ago when Travis Fulgham went on a five-game bender, catching 29 passes for 435 yards, and four touchdowns. He looked like a keeper until those five games proved to be nothing more than a fluke, and he hasn’t done anything since.

The Eagles began 2020 with seven receivers on the 53-man roster: J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, John Hightower, DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery, Jalen Reagor, Greg Ward, and Watkins.

Jackson’s season ended after five games; Jeffery’s didn’t begin until after eight games were played.

Only Watkins remains from just two years ago.

Then there’s 2019. All five are gone – Jeffery, Jackson, Arcega-Whiteside, Nelson Agholor, and Mack Hollins.

There are only two left from just last year when they kept five – Smith and Watkins.

It feels like maybe GM Howie Roseman finally got it right after years of trying.

Drafting Smith 10th overall last spring and trading for A.J. Brown this spring were big moves that should pan out with one of them becoming the first Eagles WR to top 1,000 yards receiving since 2014 when Jeremy Maclin did it.

Check back in two or three years and there’s a very good chance Smith and Brown will still be on the roster. It’s the kind of stability the Eagles haven’t had in years.

“I feel like it was necessary to make sure that we gave Jalen an opportunity to play with guys around him.,” said Roseman. “...it just made sense to add those guys, whether you're talking about DeVonta or Quez and how he stepped up and obviously A.J. and then Zach here in the off-season.

“We're just looking for opportunities to improve the team. That's all we're trying to do, and it just so happened to work out that the best guys and the opportunities that we had happened to be at that position.

“I feel good about the character of those guys, I feel good about the level of play that those guys can bring to our team, and they complement each other really well, which I think is important. We talk about it all the time, like they're different shapes and sizes and they do different things really well.”

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.