The departure of A.J. Brown has certainly opened the door for Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith to take on his new role with the team head-on, and he may believe he's ready for it.
A former first-round pick and Heisman Trophy winner, Smith is no stranger to being the number one guy in the past, but has never been able to do it in the NFL, with Brown mostly overshadowing him. ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter believes that with Brown now traded to the New England Patriots, Smith is ready to fill the WR1 gap and be the main man in Philly.
"I think he's [DeVonta Smith] absolutely up to the challenge," Schefter said via 97.5 The Fanatic. "He's one of the toughest players in the league. He's immensely respected in that locker room; people love the guy. I think DeVonta Smith is going to respond this year, I really do."
Adam Schefter fully believes in DeVonta Smith like the Eagles fans should
This has been five years in the making for Smith, who was the number one guy in 2021 in his rookie season with the Eagles and led the team in receiving yards that year. Last year was the first time Smith led the team in receiving yards since Brown came to Philly in 2022, as Smith produced 1,008 yards, five more than the second-place Brown.
The stats show that even though Smith was mostly WR2 for the Eagles, he can still put up really good numbers. He had three seasons in the last five years where he went over 1,000 yards despite Brown being there.
Smith has been preparing for this moment all offseason, as reports came out that he was reaching out to people for advice on how to handle it. The reality is that many would argue that he was WR1 last year and is already in the role, but he might not know it.
It's going to be an interesting season for Smith as he has a whole new wide receiver room behind him, between rookie Makai Lemon, Marquise "Hollywood" Brown, Dontayvion Wicks, and Elijah Moore, there to help him out. While all those guys are good in their own way, they don't have the complete package as Smith does.
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Eagles fans are ready to see Smith in action in his first season as WR1, and everyone believes in him. It's just a matter now of wondering if he believes in his own hype as well.
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