Questions: The Eagles' WR situation
During the next few days, we'll take a look at some of the Eagles' unanswered questions as their Week 1 matchup against the Panthers inches closer.
Today we look at the wide receiver situation.
Assuming that the Eagles keep six at the position, which is not a given, there have been three players competing for two spots. The locks are DeSean Jackson, Kevin Curtis, Jeremy Maclin and Jason Avant.
Which leaves Hank Baskett, Reggie Brown and Brandon Gibson.
Let's take a look at how each player has performed so far during training camp and in the first two preseason games:
Baskett - He's got five catches for 50 yards in two preseason games. I thought he played pretty well against the Colts. There was one play late in the second quarter when he avoided a defender to get to the first-down marker. What Baskett has going for him is that he brings a specific skill set to the table with his size. However, the offense hasn't really used that to its advantage so far in Baskett's career here.
Brown - He's been pretty quiet through two games, with two catches for 38 yards. Against the Colts, Brown's lone catch came during the final drive of the first half. His camp was on part with Baskett's as both guys performed well but didn't really stand out from the pack. Brown is an interesting guy to watch because his future could go several different ways. Do the Eagles keep him and hope he shows some of the promise we saw earlier in his career? Do they try to trade him and see what they can get in return? Don't laugh. Remember, they got a fifth-rounder for Greg Lewis. Or do they just cut him outright?
Gibson - Like LeSean McCoy, he got a ton of reps and endless instruction at Lehigh. Unlike McCoy, he's a sixth-round pick, which means there's no guarantee of gaining a roster spot. Gibson has six catches for 69 yards and a touchdown in the preseason. Four of those receptions came in Thursday night's game against the Colts. But against the Patriots in Week 1, when everybody was reeling from the Michael Vick mania, Gibson was doing his best to make an impression in any way possible. He laid a punishing block on a New England defender on a pass to Eldra Buckley in the closing minutes. The officials first threw a flag, saying it was illegal, but then picked it up and said there was no penalty. Definitely something you like to see from a rookie.
Here's what offensive coordinator Marty Morhninweg had to say about Gibson and the wide receiver situation:
"I think Brandon Gibson, really all our receivers, Brandon Gibson for sure is in a heated battle right now to make this football team. He is right in the competition. He's been impressive in many things. Here was the thing with the last ballgame is that when you grade the players, every one of them did some very good things and they graded out almost across the boards. They played really well except for one, two, or three plays. But you can't have that. You can't have that across the boards and so we've got to tighten that thing up. We've got to get those mistakes down to a minimum."
Sounds like the team still needs to see more from all three guys before making its decision.
As always, chime in with your thoughts on how you'd like to see this thing play out.