NFL writer sees Eagles, Cowboys WR corps as being on equal footing

If the Philadelphia Eagles were a reality show, there would be certain parts of the drama you’d be able to write easily. It’s almost as if every offseason follows the same scripts. Seriously, who didn’t know we’d be split on the quarterback discussion?

For those who love a spirited debate, there’s also the topic of the remaining members of the team’s roster. Certain discussions are unavoidable, and that leads us to other theories.

Who didn’t know that we would be talking about another outside corner or the wide receiver corps? It’s like we’re stuck in some Avengers: Endgame-type time warp.

We keep talking about the same things every 12 months. It doesn’t matter who they sign, draft, release, or elevate. There’s always a need to upgrade at wideout, and recently, the offense has had its issues in the regular season because that’s the case.

Here’s an angle on the Eagles wide receivers that you may not have thought of.

With three first-round draft choices, everyone’s hoping that, sooner rather than later, there’s a return to the days when the Birds ruled the NFC East’s roost. Unfortunately, the division belongs to the hated Dallas Cowboys because they’ve done what Philly use to do, put competitive rosters together and win most of the games that they’re supposed to win.

The Eagles have the better head coach, but the argument can be made that the Cowboys are better everywhere else. They have the better offensive and defensive coordinators, and outside of a few stars that Philly has sprinkled throughout the locker room, Dallas seems to house more talent from top to bottom.

We’ve taken one or two ganders at their wide receiver corps, often giving them credit for having three legitimate stars, but believe it or not, in a recent breakdown of every NFL team’s wide receiver corps, a well-known NFL voice, Around the NFL Writer Kevin Patra stated he believed the Eagles and Cowboys are on equal footing.

He broke all 32 units into tiers, giving the Cincinnati Bengals the nod for fielding the best unit in the NFL, but somewhere between the ‘they have bigger fish to fry’ and ‘these teams need immediate help’ tiers sit the Eagles and Cowboys in the ‘they need to add a piece or two or three’ category.

Here’s some of what Patra had to say about both teams. We begin with Dallas.

"Lamb and Cooper represent a dynamic duo. Beyond that, there are loads of questions. Gallup was on his way to a big payday before tearing his ACL… (Cedrick) Wilson may price him out of a return. There are also percolating talks that the Cowboys could move on from Cooper, who is due a $20 million base salary, which isn’t guaranteed… With Jerry Jones searching for that elusive return to the Super Bowl, cutting Cooper would be tough to swallow."

Here’s the skinny on Philadelphia:

"GM Howie Roseman continues to swing big at the receiver position. He finally found a keeper in (DeVonta) Smith, who put up 916 yards on 64 catches with five TDs as a rookie. Smith’s numbers could have been even better if Jalen Hurts connected on a few of his deep balls. The 6-foot wideout offers superior route running and good hands. Expect a Year 2 leap on tap. Watkins proved to be a good speed option, even if Nick Sirianni called far too many WR screens at times. Reagor has been a massive disappointment since being drafted in the first round in 2020 (just 695 total yards in two years). With three first-round picks in April’s draft, it wouldn’t be a shocker if Roseman added another early receiver to pair with Smith."

We agree about DeVonta Smith, and hopefully, the Eagles find better ways to utilize Quez Watkins. Philly doesn’t seem to want to give up on Reagor yet, but it’s clear that this team needs, at minimum, one more consistent playmaker at the position.

Let’s hope he’s wrong about that theory of adding another wide receiver in Round 1. There are too many other needs to address, and most would rather see the Eagles shop for a wideout in free agency than draft one.

Rounding out the remainder of the ‘they need to add a piece or two or three’ tier are the Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, New York Giants, New York Jets, and Pittsburgh Steelers.

We’ll see if that assessment changes as we move towards the next NFL regular season. For now, however, that appears to be a pretty accurate statement of the facts.