Philadelphia Eagles: Arguments for keeping Alshon Jeffery in 2020
By John Newman
4. When he’s been healthy, he’s been excellent.
Let’s not forget that Jeffery is incredible when healthy. 2019 might have been his least productive season, but he spent a large part of the season injured. Knowing that has allowed many Eagles fans to forget that, against the Redskins in Week 1, he scored twice, including a rushing touchdown.
In 2017, Jeffery was the leading scorer for the Philadelphia. He caught nine touchdown passes, which was good for 13.8 yards per reception. He also led the team in receiving yards with 789.
In 2018, Jeffery only played in 13 games. But he was still the team’s second-highest producer of points with six touchdowns. He also had a 70.7-percent catch rate that season.
Think about this. Eagles star tight end Zach Ertz was seen as the most reliable receiver that Philly had in 2018, but even with that being said, Ertz only slightly edged out Jeffery in catch percentage, with a 74.4 percent catch rate.
This Eagles team shouldn’t be in any hurry to get rid of any of their better wide receivers any time soon.
light. Related Story. The 5 most frustrating injuries from 2019
Week after week, the team’s wide receivers went down with an assortment of injuries. Seemingly, every week, fans were introduced to new receivers who had previously been backups, free agents or scout team players.
No NFL team can have a contingency plan for everything, but instead of having to sign free agents off the couch or resorting to promoting backups, it would be nice to know Philly had a fully recovered Jeffery on the field. He’s got a ton of NFL experience. He has a rapport with Wentz, and he’s uniquely gifted with the knowledge of how to handle double teams and contact. Doesn’t that sound like a pretty good contingency plan?