The Wide Receivers of Philadelphia (Past and Present)

Terrell Owens
Recently Terrell Owens had this to say about Philadelphia and it's fans:

I do miss you guys (referring to the city of Philadelphia)
I had a year and a half of my best career there in Philly. It was short-lived but I did enjoy the fans there. They were fanatics. I know when I came to that stadium and I drove up to that stadium, they got me psyched, they got me ready to play ball. I'm very fortunate to have played for that organization.

Bob Cunningham went on to stipulate in his article on The Bleacher Report that a possible reunion between the Eagles and Owens may happen. When asked by ESPN's Mike Massinelli about this he said:

"Honestly when everything happened, it happened so fast," he said. "I didn't really have enough time to ponder that situation. It was a matter of 24 to 48 hours before things got to where I am now. We obviously talked about team possibilities, options, what have you.

"I think things ended so badly with myself and management, I never even thought they would even consider it, even though since then Donovan and I, we've talked, we've hung out and things are very amicable with us right now."

I don't know about you, but I most certainly don't think that Owen's will ever be welcome back on this team. The poll results were very puzzling. At 1:33 AM Eastern Time 52.2% of voters said they would welcome back T.O. if he were to come to Philly. This puzzled me quite a bit, especially because this season we have one of the best, if not the best, fleet of receivers the City of Philadelphia has ever seen.

Reggie Brown
Dan Bandekow wrote this article on The Bleacher Report titled: Can Reggie Brown Start For The Philadelphia Eagles In 2009? Bandekow basically summarized Brown's career with some statistics.

Reggie Brown made his first start against the Redskins, catching five passes for 93 yards and a TD. He went on to have an impressive rookie debut totaling 43 receptions for 571 yards.

In 2006, 2007 Reggie Brown appeared to be on the track to good things. With nearly 1600 yards, 12 TD's and over 100 receptions, Brown seemed set to have his best season so far in 2008. This would not be so.

Missing 6 games in 2008 Brown hauled in only 18 receptions. Spending the majority of the season injured and/or benched Brown put forth his worse performance to date. Those 18 receptions were good for only 252 yards and one TD.

I don't know about the rest of Eagles Nation, but I still believe in Reggie Brown. I don't think that he had opportunity last season to prove what worth he had as a receiver. As you just read, he was injured for 6 games, and was replaced as a starter by Desean Jackson. I believe that he must prove himself in 2009, and can become a very reliable 2nd or 3rd receiver. After OTAS's Brown had this to say about his performance in camp.

"It's going pretty good. I just want to go out there and be consistent and work on the things I need to work on. Feeling good, running good routes and catching the ball. It’s good to go out there and have the opportunity to make plays. Hopefully that will continue into training camp."

It's all in Reggie Brown's hands now...

DeSean Jackson's "Coming of Age"

After reading GCobb's Article and watching and reading this from NFL.com I understand the transformation that DeSean Jackson has made this summer.

Right before the Eagle's playoff run last year William Jackson was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and by the time the Cardinals game came around he was lying in a hospital bed. Throughout the offseason DeSean has been hard at work at the Eagle's NovaCare Complex participating in their Voluntary Offseason Conditioning program. During the draft process Desean Jackson was frequently quoted as saying:

I may be small, but I got a big heart.

Jackson has been attempting to prove that he can fix his small stature,"5'10, 175 lbs, by bulking up during the offseason so that he can break tackles and plow through defenders on his way to the endzone. Dave Spadaro, Chris McPherson, and Garry Cobb have frequently said that Desean was by far the most crisp receiver in his routes during OTA's. I don't see any sophmore slump for Jackson, I see a determined, work-driven effort to only get better.

"This whole season, the rest of my career, I'm dedicating to my dad,"

-Desean Jackson

Kevin Curtis Say's He's 100%

Kevin Curtis did an interview with ABC 4 Station in Utah. He said that he's "100% this year" and that is a good thing for this offense.
In the 2008 season Kevin Curtis had to have surgery after the second preseason and he was out until Week 8 against the Atlanta Falcons. You can see from his stats what a difference there is in his production when he is not injured. In 2007, he caught 77 passes for 1,110 yards and 6 touchdowns averaging 14.4 yards/reception. In the 2008 regular season he caught 33 passes for 390 yards and 2 touchdowns averaging only 11.8 yards/reception.

Here is how we know that Curtis' numbers are not just declining with his age, his postseason stats. In 3 games Curtis caught 12 passes for 211 yards averaging 17.6 yards/reception. I can't find his YAC (yards after carry) stats anywhere but I know that they were significantly higher than his regular season's. Kevin Curtis still has the ability to catch and run with the ball.