Eagles WRs corps outclasses several elite units in recent NFL ranking

Time is most certainly flying by, and had it not been for a spring season that brought us a 4th-of-July-level firework show, we’d be all in on resigning ourselves to boarding a time machine and fast-forwarding through the next couple of months to see this new-look Philadelphia Eagles team in action.

How can you not be entertained? Haason Reddick and James Bradberry were both acquired at various points of the offseason to elevate Jonthan Gannon’s defense, as was Kyzir White. Philly prepared for its future by drafting Cam Jurgens, the supposed successor to the great Jason Kelce. They struck gold in the most recent NFL Draft.

It doesn’t get much better than landing Jordan Davis (or drafting a first-round talent, Nakobe Dean, in the third round), but no one’s complaining about a first-night and first-round trade that added A.J. Brown to the nest. Brown brings one of the game’s best skill sets at the wide receiver position to a unit that already featured one of the game’s best young talents in DeVonta Smith, and trust us on this one. That’s a fact that isn’t lost on anyone.

Pro Football Focus names the Eagles as a top-five wide receiver corps.

Leave it to the stat gurus over at Pro Football Focus to get us hyped. Recently, they released their 2022 NFL receiving corps rankings. The Cincinnati Bengals claim the top spot. They’re followed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins at two and three respectively. The Philadelphia Eagles land at four before the Las Vegas Raiders round out the top five one spot behind them.

Here’s what Ben Linsey, the writer of this one, has to say about putting the Birds where he places them.

"A.J. Brown, a legitimate No. 1 option who can win over the middle of the field, changes everything for Philadelphia’s receiving corps. The only wide receivers to average more receiving yards per route run than Brown — who the Eagles traded for on Day 1 of the 2022 NFL Draft — since he entered the league in 2019 (2.61) are Davante Adams and Justin Jefferson.Brown, DeVonta Smith and one of the more underrated tight ends in the league (Dallas Goedert) is a nice core with players like Quez Watkins and the thus-far disappointing Jalen Reagor adding some speed behind them on the depth chart."

It’s hard to disagree with much of that. It’s also hard to temper the excitement when we know that Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow are holding serve in Vegas while guys like Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk are making names for themselves in San Francisco with the 49ers.

The Niners land at number six on Linsey’s list. The defending champions, the Los Angeles Rams, see their triple-crown winner, Cooper Kupp, Allen Robinson, and company take up residency at seven.

It’s June. We realize that, so we’re a long way from games counting against the win-loss total, but to see Philly’s wide receiver corps get this type of burn this summer is pleasing to the eye.

The Birds will enter training camp, if nothing changes with a ton of bodies at wideout who are competing for what might be six roster spots: A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Quez Watkins, Greg Ward, Jalen Reagor, Deon Cain, Keric Wheatfall, Zach Pascal, John Hightower, Britain Covey, and Josh Hammond. It should be fun to watch this unit compete throughout training camp.