Adrian Fedkiw
You can’t have a band without a front man, but the Philadelphia Eagles still have a few weeks to spare.
Until then, the Eagles will have to attend their practice sessions and make due without vocals. Instrumentals it is for the Jordan Matthews Band.
Matthews is expected to miss several weeks due to a knee injury he sustained following a low hit in practice and Eagles head coach Doug Pederson hopes for him to return for the third preseason game in Indianapolis against the Colts.
Philadelphia had the worst set of wide receivers in the NFL last season and it wasn’t close. The Eagles led the NFL in drops with 37, according to Sporting Charts, which was six more than their next closest competitor the Oakland Raiders. Six percent of the 620 targets Philadelphia receivers had weren’t hauled in.
Matthews had the fewest drops among Philly receivers a year ago with five on 128 targets. He posted 997 yards receiving a year ago in Chip Kelly’s up-tempo attack and yes those numbers are a bit deceiving. The Eagles ran the second most plays per game a year ago (69.2) compared to Kansas City, which had the second fewest (59.3). Had Matthews played for the slow and methodical Chiefs, he would’ve only recorded 855 yards receiving. That’s how much of a difference the tempo made.
If there’s a receiver that can benefit most from Matthews’ absence, it’s Nelson Agholor. He’s the one with the most to prove after a disastrous rookie season, which saw him ranked 121 out of 121 on Pro Football Focus’ wide receiver list. He hauled in 23-of-44 targets for just 283 yards and a touchdown. His 52.2 percent catch rate would’ve been the fourth worst in the league had he had enough receptions to qualify.
To further exemplify how disappointing Agholor’s rookie campaign was, I’ve got more nuggets. He 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.
Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich stated last week that he’s watched Agholor’s tape from last season and has seen “flashes” of him being a viable receiving option.
We shall see.
Agholor famously stated during his introductory press conference after he was drafted the motto he lives by is that “maintaining is a form regression.”
He can’t regress any further than he did in 2015.