Nelson Agholor, WR, Philadelphia Eagles
I know exactly what you are thinking. Fear not, dear reader, what you crave is coming.
Nelson Agholor showed promise during his time at the University of Southern California, and that led to his first round selection in the 2015 Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. But he has not exactly lived up to that draft slot, despite numerous opportunities in a fairly friendly offense. His 2019 campaign was plagued by drops, and while he only had three on the season, two came in a Sunday night affair against the Atlanta Falcons, at least one of which had the potential to truly change the outcome of that contest.
Don’t worry, it is coming.
His hands have been an issue since coming into the league. Agholor had four his rookie season, seven in 2016, five in 2017, four in 2018 and those three last season.
Okay, fine. Here it is:
The most Philly soundbite goes to this guy who helped catch children thrown from a window during a fire. pic.twitter.com/3rH69gU2fL
— Steve Lindsay CBSPhilly (@SteveLindsayCBS) September 23, 2019
That’s right. Agholor’s issues at the catch point led to the “most Philly soundbite” ever, with this hero at the scene of a fire taking a moment from relaying a story of how neighbors saved children from a burning building to burn the Eagles wide receiver.
But when you look back at the 2017 campaign, you see a blueprint for his next team to follow. That season he was moved into the slot, and he set career highs in receiving yards (935) and touchdowns (8), and the Philadelphia quarterbacks had a passer rating of 114.5 when targeting him. Last year he had 32 receptions out of the slot, for 305 yards and all three of his touchdowns, as well as 132 yards after the catch.
His struggles with drops have likely ended his time in Philadelphia, but he is still a very talented slot receiver. In today’s NFL with so many teams looking at 11 offensive personnel (one running back, one tight end and three wide receivers) as their base alignment, he can be a starting wide receiver for most NFL teams. A change of scenery and some talented WRs on the outside of him, and Agholor could be in position to really produce in 2020.