While I agree in practical reality that the WRs that the Eagles have rostered or drafted haven't turned out to do much, they have still had players that were drafted fairly high.
Donte Stallworth - 1st round
Freddie Mitchell - 1st round
Charles Johnson - 1st round
DeSean Jackson - 2nd round
Reggie Brown - 2nd round
Todd Pinkston - 2nd round
LJ Smith - 2nd round
Brian Westbrook - 3rd round (he serves as WR a lot of the time)
Kevin Curtis - 3rd round
Terrell Owens - 3rd round
Antonio Freeman - 3rd round
Billy McMullen - 3rd round
Clearly not many of these guys panned out in the long run, but at some point they were somewhat highly doubted as they were all picked in the top 3 rounds of the draft. I suspect if you compare this group to what Brady has had to work with and cnacel out Moss and Owens that Brady had a lot less in terms of WR talent (at least based on their draft day status).
It's not like the Eagles did not try to invest in guys that they felt had skills (or other teams felt had skills too). Not sure what to maje of the fact that they didn't amount to much.
Stallworth also played for the Pats.Ben Watson - 1st round
Daniel Graham - 1st round
Chad Jackson - 1st round
Terry Glenn - 1st round
Jabar Gaffney - 2nd round
Kevin Faulk - 2nd round
Reche Caldwell - 2nd round
Deion Branch - 2nd round
Bethel Johnson - 2nd round
This list excludes Antowain Smith (1st round), Laurence Maroney (1st round), Kyle Brady (1st round), Corey Dillon (2nd round), Andre Davis (2nd round)
Not that it matters but Jackson was a 2nd rounder. As far the RBs, the only one used as a receiver was Faulk. As for the other receivers, Jackson, Glenn, Johnson, and Davis BARELY saw the field (if that much).Some of the guys noted above for the Eagles also fall off the list
In McNabb's case, most of the guys I listed actually played.
Here's the breakdown of the two teams receiving options since they began playing . . .
Eagles 1999-2008 with 50+ receptions (Not all with McNabb):
1 Brian Westbrook 401 receptions (3rd round)
2 L.J. Smith 231 (2nd round)
3 Chad Lewis 216 (undrafted)
3 Duce Staley 216 (3rd round)
5 Todd Pinkston 184 (2nd round)
6 Reggie Brown 168 (2nd round)
7 James Thrash 164 (undrafted)
8 Greg Lewis 127 (undrafted)
9 Terrell Owens 124 (3rd round)
10 Kevin Curtis 110 (3rd round)
11 Charles Johnson 90 (1st round)
11 Freddie Mitchell 90 (1st round)
13 Torrance Small 89 (5th round)
14 Correll Buckhalter 85 (4th round)
15 Cecil Martin 81 (6th round)
16 Hank Baskett 71 (undrafted)
17 Jason Avant 62 (4th round)
18 DeSean Jackson 62 (2nd round)
Patriots 2000-2007 Receptions (Players of 50+):
1 Troy Brown 337 (8th round)
2 Kevin Faulk 260 (2nd round)
3 Deion Branch 213 (2nd round)
4 David Patten 165 (Undrafted)
5 David Givens 158 (7th round)
6 Daniel Graham 120 (1st round)
7 Ben Watson 116 (1st round)
8 Wes Welker 112 (Undrafted)
9 Randy Moss 98 (1st Round)
10 Christian Fauria (2nd round)
11 Antowain Smith (1st round)
12 Patrick Pass 62 (7th round)
13 Reche Caldwell 61 (2nd round)
14 Corey Dillon 52 (2nd round)
Looking at guys with over 100 receptions:
PHI:
0 1st round, 3 2nd round, 4 3rd round, 3 undrafted
NE:
2 1st round, 2 2nd round, 1 7th round, 3 undrafted
(Counted Brown as undrafted since the draft is only 7 rounds now)
Looks pretty close to me.
What he said.If he finishes strong over the next few years and gets a SB win he is likely in; if he doesn't get a SB win he will need to put up some really solid numbers and get back to the NFCC/SB a couple of times to have any chance.
