Philadelphia Eagles: Their 5 worst receiving corps of their last 25 years

We’ve made it to the absolute bottom of the barrel of Philadelphia Eagles football futility.

The 3-13 1998 Philadelphia Eagles have become the gold-standard, for lack of a better term, when it comes to the worst of the worst in Eagles history, at least in the modern era. As strange as that statement sounds when said out loud, it’s true. The 1968 ‘Birds’ give them a run for their money with that 2-12 finish, but they probably could have beaten the ’98 Eagles.

Also, their leading receiver, Ben Hawkins, was a star in the NFL and already a former Pro Bowler by then.

Die-hard Eagles fans that know their Eagles history may be quick to point out the 1998 team had Irving Fryar. While that is a fact, it also bears mentioning that Fryar was 36 and completely past his prime by then. He finished the season with 48 catches 556 yards, and two touchdowns which is still a mark on the borderline Hall of Famer’s resume. Jeff Graham led this picture of apathy in receiving with 600 yards and two touchdowns.

The rest of this motley crew is an example of this unit’s incredible revolving door of futility. They include the previously mentioned Dietrich Jells, Karl Hankton, Freddie Solomon, and Russell Copeland. It doesn’t get much worse than that.

Granted, there were some things that hindered this group. For starters, head coach Ray Rhodes was a dead man walking and everyone knew it. This lead to uninspired quarterback play from the aging Rodney Peete, future long time backup Koy Detmer, and Bobby Hoying, once seen as the future before the games actually started to count. All three would win a game that year, and Detmer was actually the team’s leading passer with 1,011 yards and five touchdowns. When Koy Detmer is leading your team in touchdown tosses, there’s clearly an issue.

With all of that being said, the kicker is this. Regardless of the situation, the Eagles receivers in 1998 combined for five touchdowns for the entire season. FIVE! There is no argument after that.

While this may have been painful for fans to read, we hope it was also an entertaining way to show fans that, while the Eagles receivers may not have been ideal, there is always hope for better days, and it appears that they may have come. The ‘Birds’ have some talented guys now. As we’ve pointed out, things can always be much worse.