Complimenting his speed, Reagor shows good ball-tracking ability and ability to adjust to the ball once its in the air. [3:05] This was the play that introduced McLaurin to a lot of us. Like Julio, Jeffery is tall, long-limbed, physical, fast, and a good route runner. This was the TD that tied Walter Paytons career rushing TD record, and Adrian Peterson gave Terry the ball after the play because he knew the TD wouldnt have been possible without his blocking. Fulgham is a huge question mark but we know hes talented. 1 receiver. The additions of Golladay and Toney should actually help Slayton and Shepard take some of the focus off them. The second-year wideout has been the Lions focal point in high-leverage situations, gaining a first down on 15.2 percent of his routes on third and fourth down this season (third-highest rate, min. However, he also ended this play with a mistake I saw him make a few other times too by slipping and falling without contact. They also arguably have the best starting group of anyone in the NFL. March 1, 2023 6:03 am SBNation TomahawkNation. Last off-season, Hogs Haven published articles that focused on ranking position groups in an effort to identify what the division would look like in 2019. Gallup had 59 for 843 and 5 as third option. Here, the CB decides to take the flag on pass interference rather than risk Jeffery getting loose behind the secondary. JJ is also a good route runner and solid (though not aggressive) blocker. Jose Joaquin (JJ) Arcega-Whiteside was born in Spain, the child of two professional basketball players. Richardson lines up outside (top of screen) with Davis lining up inside as a potential blocker (though it doesnt look like the defense buys that for a second). Jefferson makes the improbable look routine, with six more receptions (24) than any other player this season on passes with less than a 50 percent completion probability. He looks, to me, a lot like a poor mans Julio Jones. This time, instead of Mike Hughes, Cooper (top of screen) is facing off against Darius Slay. [7:19] Slayton lines up on the boundary top of screen opposite Stephon Gilmore. Instead of taking a step back, Hill has elevated an entire offense and been the key to third-year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's breakout season. Eagles fans were decrying their lack of receivers in the latter half of 2019, and hope that the addition of first-round pick Jalen Reagor will be a partial answer to their concerns, even as they hold out hope that the light will come on for last years second-round selection J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, and that the aging speedster Desean Jackson can remain healthy for more than the opening week game against the Redskins. Watching tape of Tate really reinforced what a YAC monster he is. NFC East. I wanted to include this play for 2 reasons. Diggs went from good to great following his trade from Minnesota to Buffalo in 2020. Despite missing four games with a hip injury, Chase still manages to be all over the receiving leaderboards this season. Eagles: DeVonta Smith, Jalen Reagor, Greg Ward, Travis Fulgham, Quez Watkins, John Hightower. Dallas Cowboys receiver Amari Cooper edges out the competition to place as the NFC East's best receiver. There are plenty of talented wideouts that call the division home, so let's take a look at the top eight heading . He has good deep speed, but is more of a home run threat due to his ability to get open and break tackles, rather than just because he just runs past everyone. Washington: Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel, Dyami Brown, Kelvin Harmon, Adam Humphries, Cam Sims. Commanders Reacts Survey: Do you want to see the Washington Commanders on Hard Knocks in 2023. In addition to football, in high school he was all-state in basketball and placed highly in track. This home run ability forces defenses to guard the deep field against Cooper and sometimes causes CBs to give up short crossing and out routes to him because they are afraid of him running deep. Despite this, Jeffery turns on a dime and immediately locates the ball in the air, leaping up to get the catch and first down. He does an excellent job locating and tracking the ball in the air and adjusting his routes to match the balls trajectory (which was important, because he was often so fast that he got underthrown on deep routes). Cooper releases as if hes running deep down the sideline. It's difficult to separate the top two receivers in 2022, but when taking into account career production and capability, Jefferson just barely gets the top spot. And Lamb came out of the gate with a 74-catch rookie season. There's one NFC East receiver on the list, and the problem . He was on a torrid pace yet again when healthy. [2:09] Jeffery runs right at his CB (Eli Apple), using his long arms to shove him back, then breaking inside to get open and get the catch and first down. That good deep speed, with elite agility and acceleration shows up on tape as well. 1. If Carson Wentz can return to his 2017 form and stay healthy for 16 games, this Eagles receiving crew could lead the division in statistical production. He has enough deep speed that opposing DBs have to respect the deep pass and will often sell out to defend it, giving Cooper a good amount of cushion. Whenever defenses left him 1-on-1 against non-elite CBs, he was able to get open for a big play, though he was often missed by inaccurate Redskins QBs early in the season. Who tops the list? On tape, Richardsons quickness and speed stand out. July 25, 2021 1:56 pm MT. This play shows Slaytons deep speed, ball tracking ability, and ability to haul in long passes. Hes still only an average run blocker, but thats a step up from what he was and traditionally means a lot to the Cowboys offense. [1:17] Arcegna-Whiteside makes a great fake outside to over-commit the CB, then uses quick feet to explode inside and get great initial separation. If there were a vote for the most anonymous group in the division, I suspect that it would be won by the Giants, whose WR corps is headlined by Golden Tate and was not supplemented in the April draft, in which Dave Gettleman selected three offensive linemen and three linebackers, while every other team in the division drafted at least one new receiver. [2:32] Jeffery lines up outside with the CB giving him lots of cushion. Then Richardson makes a great leaping catch, highpointing the ball and securing it at maximum extension away from the DB. The Cowboys receivers may have the most talent and productivity potential of any group in the NFC East, but, with the Cowboys run-centered offense, and Dak Prescotts limited pass production (he averages 3,625 yards and 25 TDs per season in his career), this group is unlikely to put up truly big numbers in 2019. With defenses afraid to leave a corner on an island, the Vikings have faced the lowest rate of single-high coverages this season (45 percent). Where do Eagles' receivers rank among NFC East. With Dak Prescott healthy, this offense could be fun to watch. He even manages to keep his feet in bounds when he lands despite a shove by Darby, showing excellent body control and awareness. The Indiana DB matched up on him seems to sniff out the run play right away and immediately tries to break through for the tackle. McLaurin is an ideal Z receiver, though not quite big enough to play X and not able to consistently beat the best CBs in the NFL. Though hes only 511, Reagors leaping ability allows him to go up pretty high to make a catch. AZ, CO, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, (select parishes), MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY, CA-ONT only.Eligibility restrictions apply. Tight ends. After the Chiefs traded Hill in the offseason, he presented an ideal case study for how important an elite receiver can be to an offense. You won't want to miss a moment of the 2022 season! His most impressive area of improvement was in his catching ability. Many of the recent early-round busts at this position came from wide-open spread attacks that only asked the wide receivers to run a few routes and when these young receivers adjusted to the league, they were just not close to being well-rounded enough in all aspects of running an NFL route tree. [5:16] Cooper lines up outside and fakes a break outside, causing Jalen Mills to bite hard on the fake, and leaving Cooper wide open when he redirects inside. [7:06] Very clever play design by Doug Pederson. Often at the college level, receivers see very little in-your-face physical man coverage, so watching what we can and analyzing it very closely is extremely important. CeeDee Lamb is running away with this award. Look at the difference in cushion the Eagles give him vs the other boundary WR at the top of the screen! Although its an offense that deflates WR stats by distributing the ball a lot, its a cleverly designed offense that gets WRs open. Overall, he is big, strong, has good hands, and is nuanced at many aspects of playing WR, but shows a lack of deep speed on film. Of the players I reviewed last year for the Ranking the NFCE series, my opinion on Cooper is that he is among the least changed. In this section, well offer a look at a few of the top players in the division, with an analysis of their styles, skills and limitations written by Andrew York, who has volunteered to help me with this series. However, this makes him a poor matchup on physical CBs like Josh Norman who can shove back harder. It is highly recommended that you use the latest versions of a supported browser in order to receive an optimal viewing experience. Andrew is a self-taught film analyst with a pretty impressive resume. He is also still an excellent route runner, running crisp routes with a tremendous sense of timing and anticipation of the balls arrival. Amari Cooper was selected 4th overall by the Oakland Raiders in the 2015 draft. Alshon Jeffery was taken by the Bears in the 2nd round of the 2012 draft. They really don't have a choice, as Hill's yards-per-route figure jumps to 4.2 against man coverage and 4.6 when left on an island against single-high coverages. Cooper is one of the best in the NFL at building up speed on the route stem as if hes going to go deep, then stopping on a dime and cutting in a different direction so suddenly that the DB is backing up several feet away before he realizes hes out of position. Watching tape of McLaurins 2019 season, it became clear that other teams saw him as the number one threat in the Redskins passing game. Tate gets wide open and signals Wentz for the TD. Drafted by the Seahawks in the 2nd round of the 2010 NFL draft, Tate signed with the Lions in FA in 2014, was traded to the Eagles in 2018, and signed with the Giants in free agency this offseason. [4:15] This is a well designed and executed pick play where Richardson springs Vernon Davis open for a huge gain. Check out the NFC West's top 10 receivers. Then Reagor explodes off that planted left leg to go outside and uses a bit of a shove to knock the CB off balance and shoot past him. DAVANTE ADAMS, LAS VEGAS RAIDERS The former Green Bay Packer is at the top of his game as he makes the move to the Las Vegas Raiders. The suddenness with which Cooper changed his direction and the degree to which the CB committed deep make it impossible for the CB to redirect in time, and Cooper gets open for an easy catch. He ranked top three in both receiving grade (91.7) and yards per route run (3.64) versus such looks. McLaurin gets a poor angle on the block because of the DBs speed, but nevertheless uses his strength to hold his man in place and eventually follow him to the ground, forcing the defender to reach out for an attempted shoestring tackle. During his first two seasons, McLaurin has proven himself as a true No. Reagor is a bit more physical than you might expect from a playing weight under 200 pounds, though he still struggles a bit with press coverage. Reagor again runs a good route, faking outside as if to run down the sideline and getting the CB to turn outside, but then breaking inside to take advantage of the cushion with nobody near him. It depends on whether you favor production or . Building on his success earlier in the game, Cooper fakes another deep route down the sideline, then stutter-steps inside on a slant route. It would have made more sense for Darby to press Slayton at the line, disrupt his route, then run with him and have the other DB start further back to act as insurance if Darby gets beat. Unless Eli Manning, who has averaged 3,800 yards, 20 TDs and 12 INTs over the past two seasons with OBJ on the field with him for 16 games, can find some magic in his 38-year-old arm, the Giants receivers are unlikely to make a big dent in the league receiving statistics. In our continuing series of ranking the players at different positions in the NFC West and also ranking the teams at each position, we now take a look at the four teams . Cooper does a good job after the catch of fighting hard and leaning forward for a few extra yards, despite having already made the first down. I respectfully disagree with one aspect of this otherwise fine gallery Jeff Chadiha has put together of the NFL's top 10 wide receivers. Although he suffered from poor QB play in 2019 (40.2% of passes thrown his way were uncatchable, 3rd worst in this years draft class), he also had a terrible 9.8% drop rate, one of the highest in this years draft class. Basically everything about this matchup is tilted in McLaurins favor, and I think its the type of matchup he isnt likely to receive now that teams have had a look at him. Our daily series examining the NFC East from a positional perspective with the help of league personnel sources moves on to the position in which the Eagles spent the most time on in the offseason . NFC North. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. As was the case in his rookie season, Chases bread and butter has been passes thrown outside the numbers, where he ranks sixth in the NFL with 515 receiving yards this season. To put that in perspective, he is currently the only player in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016) to average over 3.3 yards per route in a season (min. However, his best athletic trait isnt his deep speed so much as his short-area quickness. A: NAME: TEAM: COLLEGE: . 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