Philadelphia Eagles: Wide Receivers Need Time To Grow

The Philadelphia Eagles have a young group of wide receivers.

With the addition of first round pick, Nelson Agholor, in last week’s draft the Eagles added to their ranks at the key position. One concerning area may be the lack of real experience among their key wide receivers.

The Philadelphia Eagles currently have twelve wide receivers on their roster. Only Jeff Maehl (26), Riley Cooper (27), Seyi Ajirotutu (27) and Miles Austin (30) are over the age of 24. Six of the players are 23 or under.

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This gives the Philadelphia Eagles a talented group of youngsters at the position, but may cause the unit to face growing pains along the way. On the face of it, Nelson Agholor, Jordan Matthews, Joshua Huff and Riley Cooper look to be the top four players at the position. Agholor is a rookie, whilst Matthews and Huff are entering their second season in the league. Whilst rookies have the ability to dominate the league, see Odell Beckham Jr and Victor Cruz, experience can also be crucial at this position.

Lets compare this to the current Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. At the time of the Super Bowl, the Patriots had Danny Amendola (29), Julian Edelman (28), Josh Boyce (25) Brandon LaFell (28), Matthew Slater (29) and Brian Tyms (26). Not a single player under the age of 25 at the position. Experience isn’t everything, but it counts.

The defeated Seattle Seahawks had Doug Baldwin (26), Jermaine Kearse (25), Ricardo Lockette (28), Chris Matthews (25), Kevin Norwood (25) and Bryan Walters (27). Again, not a single player under the age of 25.

What does this tell us? Hopefully, not a lot! However, I found it interesting that of all the players who competed in the Super Bowl as a wide receiver, not one was under the age of 25. Should the Philadelphia Eagles get there this year, they figure to have a minimum of three (Huff, Agholor and Matthews) who would be under 25.

This tells me that the Philadelphia Eagles aren’t in win-now mode, yet. The moves made so far make sense for a team planning an assault on the Super Bowl in two to three years time. They’ve revamped their wide receivers and secondary. The front seven of the defense is overloaded with talent. Next up on the rebuilding agenda is the offensive line.

By trading for a young quarterback in Sam Bradford, the Philadelphia Eagles have bought themselves time to grow. The key players on their roster are generally young. This will lead to inconsistency and the odd awful performance, but whilst they grow remember that they are young and are learning. In two to three years time, the Philadelphia Eagles could be exciting across the board. Give them the time to grow and these youngsters will repay our faith.

Next: Thoughts On The Eagles 2015 Draft Class

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