Shelton

Gibson

Waived/injured in August, Gibson spent the year on the street before landing back with Philly ahead of its Wild Card game against the Seahawks. He gives them some speed at the position, but Gibson has never made an impact outside of special teams. To make room, the Eagles placed RG Brandon Brooks (shoulder) on I.R.

Gibson appeared in 15 games last year, primarily playing special teams and offering depth at receiver. Only 24 years old, Gibson should receive another shot elsewhere but don’t expect him to emerge as a receiving threat. In a corresponding transaction, the Eagles signed CB Sojourn Shelton.

Gibson (5’11/191) started for two years at WVU before going pro as a redshirt junior, tallying a career 84-1,898-17 (22.6! YPR) receiving line and averaging 23.5 yards on kickoff returns, including a 100-yard score as a sophomore. Billed as a burner, Gibson disappointed at the Combine with a 4.5-flat forty and lowly 15th-percentile SPARQ score. Like most ex-Mountaineer wideouts, Gibson enters the NFL with limited route experience. He also has small hands (8 7/8") and struggled with drops at West Virginia. Gibson was a dynamic college deep threat whose best NFL projection may be as a special teams ace.

McLane even dropped a Marvin McNutt comparison on Gibson, saying it was easy to tell early in McNutt’s career that he wasn’t going to make it. Gibson struggled with drops at West Virginia, so this isn’t a new problem. He has tiny hands. WRs coach Mike Groh has apparently been laying into the rookie at practice.

According to multiple beat reports, Gibson drew the ire more than once of WRs coach Mike Groh for dropping passes at OTAs and minicamp. Kempski says it’s “pretty clear” Gibson won’t be an early contributor in a crowded pass-catcher corps, and his likeliest destination may ultimately be the practice squad.

It is not a surprise. Gibson has struggled with drops all offseason, and coach Doug Pederson said the receiver is “by no means where he wants to be or where we want him to be” last month. The Eagles will likely try to stash him on the practice squad.

Gibson struggled with drops during the offseason program, and he apparently was not much better at the start of training camp. Those struggles caused Philly Voice’s Jimmy Kempski to put Gibson on the roster bubble in June, and Adam Caplan echoed the same thought today. Despite his draft stock, Gibson needs to improve in a hurry to keep his job.

A fifth-round pick last year, Gibson had a disastrous offseason and training camp as a rookie, struggling with drops and mental mistakes before playing just 17 snaps. Thanks to encouragement from Nelson Agholor, Gibson was a different player this spring. "[Agholor] asked me a couple of weeks ago, when we first came back, if I’m doing everything I can do to be great,” Gibson said. “So I started coming in early with him, me and Greg Ward. And ever since then, I’ve been progressing, progressing, progressing.” Gibson is unlikely to earn a big role behind Alshon Jeffery, Agholor, Mike Wallace, and Mack Hollins, but he should stick on the roster if he keeps performing well in training camp.

Gibson is now up to nine grabs for 195 yards and a pair of scores this summer. Gibson’s impressive preseason comes on the heels of a strong offseason. He’s closing in on a roster spot after making five appearances as a fifth-round rookie last season.

Gibson suffered the brain injury in Tuesday’s practice. The sophomore wideout played just 17 snaps as a rookie but had a standout offseason. Gibson is looking like the No. 5 wideout behind Mack Hollins and Mike Wallace.