Eagles' Receivers Seem Poised For Big Things
PHILADELPHIA, PA (CBS) — As a collective, they're young, fast and talented. But the most green area of the Eagles' offense lies with their receiving corps of Jordan Matthews, Josh Huff, Riley Cooper, Nelson Agholor, Miles Austin and Jeff Maehl. Austin has the most experience, playing 10 years in the NFL, followed by Cooper, who has six. Then after that, there is a drop off among Matthews, Huff, Agholor and Maehl, who combined have played four seasons in the NFL.
Between the whole group, they caught 13 touchdown passes last year.
Still, Eagles' receivers coach Bob Bicknell feels confident about this group and their learning curve.
"It's really a group that has a lot of talent, and there is a good physicality among all of them," Bicknell said. "The battle is seeing who is going to play. I'm excited to see them progress. For a few of these guys, like Matthews and Huff, it's their second year in the offense, which helps. It's a young group and the NFL is not an easy league to enter. The toughest part comes mentally. It will take some time and the experience has helped. All of the guys that we have are making plays at different times and they're all progressing. We have a strong group of guys who are all good, from top to bottom, they're just a young group."
Of the receiving corps, Huff could be prime to make a huge impact this year. He had his issues last year. He was injured at the beginning of the season and then had to play catch up to the rest of the unit.
"Josh is the one is the one who's shown me a lot more consistency catching the ball and he knows the offense," Bicknell said. "He obviously has athletic ability and talent. He's shown me more of that. There's not a guy on this team that doesn't want to work as hard as he possibly can. Coach, 'What can I do more, how can I do more?' Sometimes, I tell him to just keep doing what you're doing and relax. I think that's kind of been more important to him. I think it's confidence.
"It's not easy. You know it's funny the way it's become now. You should leave college, come in the NFL and start and be a good player. If you're not, you're a disappointment, and that's just not the truth. It's not even close to the truth. Some guys I've been with on bad teams have had great years. Well, no, that player was on a bad team and he had great stats, which had nothing to do with how he really played. It's not easy for these guys. You have a big city like this, a team like this that was 10-6 in a bunch of big games, it's not an easy thing to come right in and do from college."
Huff, a third-round pick out of Oregon, caught eight passes and was targeted 18 times last year. His eight receptions went for 98 yards, including a 44-yard reception. His 12.3 yards-per-catch was third-highest on the team, behind Jeremy Maclin's 15.5-average and James Casey's 19.7, which came on just three catches.
"Josh made some big plays and you just go 'Wow,' on special teams and catches, but a third-round pick on a good team, I don't know if can get out of him," Bicknell said. "He wasn't as disappointing as some thought. It was disappointing he got hurt. I think he's coming along the way he should. Nelson is a talented player and there are facts to that. I think Nelson is going to have a big year, but it's not big on statistics. Hopefully everybody in our room catches 42 passes and score four touchdowns. If they do that, they'll do everything we want them to do."
