Hype is Real: Eagles Have Most Talented WR Tandem in Franchise History

PHILADELPHIA - In one fell swoop on Day 1 of the NFL Draft, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman turned a significant need at receiver into an embarrassment of riches by acquiring two-time 1,000-yard receiver A.J. Brown from Tennessee for the No. 18 overall pick and an additional third-rounder.

It also could cost nine figures on the back end potentially with Brown’s four-year, $100 million extension, but from a pure football perspective, everything about the trade fit the Eagles like a glove.

Not only is Brown perhaps a top-10 receiver in the league, but his big body (6-foot-1 and 226 pounds) is also a perfect complement to emerging second-year receiver DeVonta Smith, not to mention Brown has been extremely close with Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts since the two met while Alabama was recruiting Brown at the onset of his college days.

“He’s always been an excellent player since I’ve known him in college,” Hurts said Wednesday at the NovaCare Complex. “Always had the ability to make plays with the ball in his hand, use his body, box out defenders, break tackles, so he’s a great addition to a great receiver room we have now and I’m excited.”

More so, despite Nick Sirianni’s insistence that labels like X, Z, and flex or slot are never his goal, it’s comforting to know when your spilt end is strong enough to beat press coverage from anyone and your 166-pound receiver can spend most of his time at flanker with the room to maneuver off the line with a little space.

“It gives the offense a different dynamic,” Smith said on Wednesday. "... at the end of the day, as a receiver, you have to use your hands and things like that, and with him being a bigger guy he’s going to be more physical.

"So you take things like that from him of how he uses his hands because still at the end of the day I’m a smaller guy but I still have to use my hands when I release.”

Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay also noted the fit.

“You know everybody kept saying we need a bigger receiver, a physical one. And we found a perfect match,” Slay said of Brown. “He’s a great guy. I ended up playing against him probably once and his film, he’s aggressive, finishes the catches, runs through tackles.

“He’s like a running back when he gets the ball in his hand. He makes all the contested catches. People look at him like he’s big and slow. On film, I’ve never seen him get ran down yet. So that’s exciting, I’m expecting big plays from him.”

The Eagles whet their fans' appetite for Brown on Thursday by releasing the first look at him running routes with his new team during offseason work.

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Smith is just 23 and coming off a rookie season in which he had 64 receptions for a franchise rookie record 916 yards and five touchdowns.

Brown is still only 24 himself despite playing three NFL seasons already with his low-water mark being 869 yards last season, coming up short of 1,000 for the first time only because he missed four games due to injury.

On paper, this is quite simply the most talented WR duo the Eagles have ever had.

“It can be really special, man,” Smith said. “I’m just glad I can be a part of it. I’m going to do my part and try to just bring what I bring to the table."

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen