The Eagles Will Need A Receiver To Step Up In 2026

No team is perfect.

Even the Super Bowl contenders have some flaws. For the Eagles, there are perhaps a few more flaws on this year’s roster than we’re used to seeing from this group, although they still should be considered contenders to win their third straight division title and represent the NFC in the Super Bowl once again.

While the defense appears to be pretty set, questions remain about the offense, especially among the guys catching the ball. The Eagles entered the off-season knowing they would eventually trade A.J. Brown and without much in the pantry at tight end.

Dallas Goedert is back as the starter at that position, and DeVonta Smith’s promotion to WR1 should provide a decently-high floor at both of those spots. I also expect the offensive line to perform at a higher level this year, and for the duo of Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby to allow the offense to be one of the best rushing units in the league.

But I’m worried about the receivers.

First, I love DeVonta Smith. He can do it all. He’s a burner who can make every contested catch there is, despite his slim frame. It’s incredible he’s been able to stay as healthy as he has during his Eagles career. I’ve always believed he could do more than was asked of him in previous seasons, and the hope is the Sean Mannion offense will present more easy buttons for him and Jalen Hurts to take advantage of. I hope he can replicate Brown’s numbers, but I don’t believe it’s automatically going to happen.

Even if Smith is everything they hope he will be, there is still a lot of uncertainty concerning the rest of the pass catchers. There’s really no way you can feel confident in any of them at the start of the season.

It’s clear the Eagles went into the off-season planning on first round draft pick Makai Lemon to play a major role and even, perhaps, be their starting outside receiver opposite Smith. But his summer-long battle with his hamstring delayed his participation in training camp. He was not impressive in the third preseason game and it’s hard to see him making a significant impact in his first year.

Frankly, there are some Jalen Reagor vibes right now.

Dontayvion Wicks’ summer was encouraging, but he was brought on board to be the team’s slot receiver, the spot that he played in Green Bay under Mannion. It’s good that he has experience in Mannion’s offense and that familiarity will help. But he’s also a player who compiled just 332 yards in 14 games a season ago, and his season high yardage total is 581, in his 2023 rookie season. He averaged just 23.7 yards per game last year.

Training camp superstar Darius Cooper is an interesting player and, who knows, maybe he’ll emerge as a surprise contributor in 2026. But most cap superstars fizzle once the real games begin.

Then there are the wily veterans, Elijah Moore and Hollywood Brown, both of whom made the 53-man roster in the hopes one of them can find the fountain of youth. Moore combined to haul n 9 passes for 112 yards with the Bills and Broncos a year ago. He’s still just 26, so maybe there’s more there. Brown is 29 and put up 587 yards on 49 catches a season ago. That’s 255 more than Wicks, by the way.

And as The Philly Voice’s Jimmy Kempski noted a couple weeks ago, this is not an imposing physical group of wideouts.

The drop-off in receivers would be a bit less worrisome if the tight end situation was better. But after Goedert, who is now 31, there is absolutely nothing. Like Lemon, second round pick Eli Stowers was expected to come in and serve as a secondary pass catcher to Goedert. But Stowers’ summer has been brutal, appearing totally overmatched at this level. It is entirely possible he won’t even be activated on game days this year.

That leaves the Eagles with run-blocking specialist Johnny Mundt and frequent practice squad player E.J. Jenkins as the back-ups. If Goedert goes down with an injury, something that happens almost every year, the tight end position will be totally and utterly useless in the passing game.

The bottom line: someone outside of DeVonta Smith needs to step up this season.

The Eagles need a receiver to emerge from this muddled pack to be Hurts’ reliable No. 2. They need a chain-mover, someone to pile up 700-800 yards this year and give opposing defenses someone else to think about other than Smith.

Without it, I don’t see how this offense can function.

I’m expecting Mannion’s scheme to struggle at the start of the season. Howie Roseman clearly felt he addressed the Brown departure with quantity over quality. Given their cap situation, it’s understandable. Less understandable is their inability to secure another competent tight end.

The best case scenario is the Eagles relying on a dominant running game, with a passing offense based off of that, freeing up players in space and utilizing running backs out of the backfield a bit more, too. And one hopes another tight end (Zach Ertz?) will be added to the roster, too.

I think the Eagles will be good this year, but it might be in spite of a receiving corps filled with question marks.