Ranking Eagles' best receiving duos; Jalen Hurts wins historic honor

PHILADELPHIA − The Eagles have never had a pair of receivers with at least 1,000 yards receiving in the same season.

That can finally change in the coming weeks. A.J. Brown has 950 yards receiving with five games remaining, a virtual shoo-in for the milestone, something he has reached twice in his first three seasons. DeVonta Smith is not far behind with 711 yards receiving, on pace for 1,007 yards over the course of a 17-game season.

Smith and Brown became the first Eagles’ pair to have at least 100 yards receiving in the same game since 2018, when Zach Ertz and Nelson Agholor did it. Brown had 119 yards receiving in the Eagles’ 35-10 win over the Titans, and Smith had 102 yards.

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“He’s an elite player,” Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen said about Brown. “He’s made so many big plays this year. He’s been awesome. It’s pretty nice when you got a player who can go get it like he does … It’s an advantage for us, for sure.”

Last season, five NFL teams had a pair reach the 1,000-yard mark.

Those duos were the Chargers’ Keenan Allen and Mike Williams; the Buccaneers’ Chris Godwin, a Delaware native, and Mike Evans; the Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins; the Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce; and the Ravens’ Mark Andrews and Marquise Brown.

This season, the Dolphins’ Hill (1,379 yards) and Jaylen Waddle (972) can get there as soon as this Sunday. The Seahawks’ Tyler Lockett (836) and DK Metcalf (798), and the Bengals’ Higgins (861) and Chase (702) are in the same range as Brown and Smith.

Here, then, is a ranking at the Eagles’ best receiving duos:

8. Terrell Owens and Brian Westbrook, 2004

Yards: Owens 1,200, Westbrook 703

Comment: Owens was brilliant that season, his first with the Eagles. He got his total in 14 games before breaking his ankle only to return in time for the Super Bowl. That Westbrook, a running back, was second in receiving yards shows how impactful Owens was − and how big of a dropoff there was to receivers Todd Pinkston and Freddie Mitchell. Westbrook, who only played in 13 games that season, had 1,515 yards from scrimmage.

7. DeSean Jackson and Riley Cooper, 2013

Yards: Jackson 1,332, Cooper 835

Comment: This was the first season under head coach Chip Kelly, and both players had career seasons. In fact, Jackson and Cooper were the last pair of wide receivers with at least 100 yards each in a game until Brown and Smith did it on Sunday. Jackson had 150 yards and Cooper had 139 against the Raiders on Nov. 3, 2013. Nick Foles threw for 7 touchdowns that day. Cooper never came close to his 2013 total in any other season.

6. Irving Fryar, Chris Jones, 1996

Yards: Fryar 1,195, Jones 859

Comment: Fryar was 34 years old and in his first season with the Eagles when he put together one of the best seasons of his career. Jones’ totals, meanwhile, seemed to come out of nowhere. He never had as many as 100 yards receiving in his other 2 NFL seasons − 1995 and 1997.

5. Jeremy Maclin and Jordan Matthews, 2014

Yards: Maclin 1,318, Matthews 872

Comment: Maclin is the last Eagles’ wide receiver with at least 1,000 yards receiving in a season. He put together a career year that season before signing as a free agent with the Kansas City Chiefs. Matthews was a rookie, and he seemed poised to become a top receiver for many years until he was derailed by knee injuries. Matthews did get 997 yards receiving in 2015.

4. Zach Ertz and Alshon Jeffery, 2018

Yards: Ertz 1,163, Jeffery 843

Comment: Ertz set an NFL record for receptions by a tight end that season with 116, while Jeffery was coming off of shoulder surgery following the Eagles’ Super Bowl run the season before. Jeffery missed the first three games, and that most likely prevented him from also reaching 1,000 yards.

3. 2010, DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, 2010

Yards: Jackson 1,056, Maclin 964

Comment: This duo actually came the closest to both reaching 1,000. And really, it should have happened more than once. Jackson, the Eagles’ second-round pick in 2008, was only in his third season, and Maclin, the Eagles’ first-round pick in 2009, was only in his second. Jackson led the NFL by averaging 22.5 yards per catch. But the two never played together after the 2012 season as Maclin missed the 2013 season with a knee injury and Jackson was released in the spring of 2014.

2. Harold Carmichael and Charlie Young, 1973

Yards: Carmichael 1,116, Young 854

Comment: These totals are all the more remarkable considering that the NFL only played 14-game seasons back then. But Eagles quarterback Roman Gabriel led the NFL in completions (270), attempts (460) and yards (3,219) that year, using the 6-foot-8 Carmichael and Young, the Eagles’ first-round pick that year. Young played 13 seasons in the NFL, but never had as many yards as that first season. Carmichael, meanwhile, was in his third season of what became a Hall of Fame career.

1. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, 2022

Yards: Brown 950, Smith 711

Comment: In reality, this duo should be only be scratching the surface. Brown was signed to a four-year contract upon being traded to the Eagles last spring, while Smith set the franchise rookie receiving record last season with 916 yards.

If not for Dallas Goedert’s shoulder injury that led him to the injured reserve list, the Eagles had an outside shot at having 3 receivers with at least 1,000 yards. That has only been done 5 times in NFL history, most recently in 2008 when Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston did it.

In other news

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was named the NFC’s Offensive player of the week after winning the honor last week. He is the first Eagles’ player to win a weekly honor two weeks in a row. Hurts completed 29 of 39 passes for 380 yards and 3 touchdowns against Tennessee. Last week, Hurts rushed for 157 yards in the Eagles’ win over Green Bay.
The Eagles opened the 21-day practice window for cornerback Avonte Maddox, who’s on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. It’s not known if Maddox will be able to play Sunday, the first day he’s eligible after missing the required four games.
The Eagles added DT Marvin Wilson and T Roderick Johnson to the practice squad after waiving three players from the squad on Tuesday.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.

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Ranking Eagles’ best receiving duos; Jalen Hurts wins historic honor

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