The trade of wide receiver Jordan Matthews took a good friend away from Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz and left the team without the player who was slated to man the slot receiver role during the 2017 season.
On Monday, offensive coordinator Frank Reich was asked about the plans for the position now that Matthews is plying his trade in Buffalo. Reich mentioned Nelson Agholor, Mack Hollins and Marcus Johnson as players that will be in the mix and said tight end Trey Burton could also be a factor in what’s shaping up as a committee approach.
“I mean, I think it’s going to be -- it’s a game-plan thing,” Reich said in comments distributed by the team. “Each and every week, when we put a play up, it’s what body type do we want in there for this play? Is it a crossing route where we want a bigger body type? Is it going to be one of these scat-back things where we want a little more fast twitch? Then you put somebody like Nelson in there. Is it a speed route? Do we need somebody to clear out for something vertical for [Alshon Jeffery] coming in behind him? Do we want a speed route running deep across the field to run by a safety on the back side? So it will be by committee, by play, each and every week -- by coverage. Those things all factor in.”
The Eagles will only be able to keep so many receivers on their 53-man roster, so it would help the team from both a numbers and an offensive predictability standpoint to find guys who can handle a few of the responsibilities Reich laid out on Monday.
