HOUSTON — The Eagles have plenty of needs heading into the offseason but none are bigger than the hole at wide receiver, according to Shannon Sharpe.
The host of Undisputed on Fox Sports 1 was critical of the Eagles’ wide receiving corps for leading the league in dropped passes in 2015 and adding 24 more drops last season.
“When I look at their receivers, they drop too many passes,” Sharpe told NJ Advance Media during a press availability for Fox Sports Tuesday. “I know they got Jordan Matthews in the second round. They traded for Dorial Green-Beckham. They have Agholor … I think Agholor has regressed. Jordan Matthews is hit or miss. Green-Beckham is the guy that has a big body but is not very proficient at running the route-tree. They have to get better there.”
The Eagles top three wide receivers of Matthews, Agholor and Green-Beckham combined for just 146 catches for 1,561 yards and seven touchdowns.
Sharpe says that from watching rookie quarterback Carson Wentz this season it was evident that the receivers collective struggles impacted the rookie signal caller.
Prescott Bahsegel or Wentz? Aikman says …
“You can see that Wentz gets frustrated,” Sharpe said. “He can see that when guys drop the ball, he’s thinking to himself; ‘Could I have thrown a better ball? What could I have done differently?’ You don’t want your quarterback second-guessing himself. You want your quarterback to drop back and take three, four or five steps back, throw the football and know that his guy is going to make a play for him. Right now, those guys aren’t making enough plays for him.”
As a result of the ineptitude of the Eagles’ top pass catchers the team fired position coach Greg Lewis and replaced him with Mike Groh.
Both through the NFL draft and via free agency, Howie Roseman and the Eagles are expected to address the wide receiver position and bolster talent there this offseason.
Sharpe says that an influx of talent is paramount if Wentz is going to improve in 2017 and beyond.
“You’ve got a young quarterback,” Sharpe said. “Quarterbacks need targets. Targets need to be able to catch the football more times than not. They have more drops than anybody. in order for him to grow and progress, he needs people that he can throw the football to and he can count on.”
Matt Lombardo may be reached at MDLombardo@yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardo975.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
