Adrian Fedkiw
It’s Jordan Matthews’ band, but who’s going to play second fiddle at wide receiver?
I’m looking at you Rueben Randle.
The 24-year-old Randle, who signed a one-year $3 million contract in late March, caught 57 passes for 797 yards and eight touchdowns last season after hauling in a career-high 71 balls for 938 yards and three scores the year prior. Randle’s acquisition came a week after the Eagles brought in the deep threat Chris Givens, who agreed to a one-year $740,000 deal.
Roseman has done a solid job of not overspending for average talent at wide receiver as this year’s free-agent class wasn’t highly regarded. The pair of Randle and Givens will make only about $4-million next season. Compare that to Mohamed Sanu, who cashed in with the Atlanta Falcons on a five-year, $32.5 million contract. Randle has outgained Sanu by 551 yards and six touchdowns the past two seasons, and Sanu will be making an average of $6.5 million per year for the next five.
Value!
There’s still not a lot of talent at the wide receiver position, but there’s at least some depth and it’s better than it was last year. Another thing to keep in mind too, Andy Reid likes to incorporate his tight ends and running backs more into the passing game than most coaches, so wideouts aren’t as highly thought of. Pederson is going to be the same way.
Although Randle’s numbers declined last season, he didn’t practice much during the season due to lingering knee issues. The less practice time you have, the less rapport and timing you build with your quarterback.
Randle doesn’t drop a lot of passes, just three last year and four the season prior, but it’s his inconsistency which made the Giants feel like he was expendable. Randle has shown the ability to make those tough catches in traffic, but then there were those no-show games. He has above-average speed for a 6’2 receiver and runs solid routes, but is somewhat limited athletically and doesn’t do anything great. He relies on winning at the catch point.
That’s still better than what the Eagles have.
Givens is a deep threat and pretty much a one-trick pony, I gave up on Josh Huff a long time ago and then there’s Nelson Agholor, who had a dreadful rookie season and ranked 121 out of 121 on Pro Football Focus’ wide receiver list. Agholor averaged 1.8 catches, 21.8 yards and .08 touchdowns per game last year, which paled in comparison to the averages of first-round wideouts over the past decade. They racked up 3.3 catches, 44.4 yards and 0.3 scores per contest.
Agholor is the x-factor in this whole thing. He actually showed flashes in the preseason last year, especially with his run-after-the-catch explosiveness, but then the regular season came around and he couldn’t catch a nose bleed.
We’ll see what’s in store for year two.
Ultimately, the passing game is going to be centered around Matthews and Zach Ertz. Darren Sproles will be a key cog as well, but who else will emerge?