National Football League

Could the Eagles have two one-thousand yard receivers?

Published Jun. 24, 2015 4:52 p.m. ET

foxsports

By Brenden Peddigree

The Philadelphia Eagles playmakers have been working hard this offseason. Josh Huff has been staying after practice using the jugs machine, Zach Ertz has met with NFL legends to perfect his craft, Jordan Matthews is working like Jordan Matthews and Nelson Agholor is following along. With dreams of being elite and all the hard work these receivers are putting in, it makes one wonder if there is history to be made with this group.

The Eagles have never had two receivers catch over one thousand yards in a season.

They’ve come close – Jeremy Maclin was 36 yards short of joining DeSean Jackson in 2010, Brent Celek was just 29 yards short in 2009 – but never closed the deal. Will this be the year that changes?

It has become a forgone conclusion this offseason that Matthews will be a one thousand yard receiver in 2015. He was less than 150 yards away in his rookie season and now has nobody ahead of him on the depth chart. He is still seeing a lot of action in the slot but there is no question that he will get his fair share of looks and opportunities to produce.

Josh Huff has yet to accumulate more than a hundred yards through the air in the NFL. No, not in a game. He only had 98 receiving yards in his rookie year. It seems strange that he is getting so much hype after such a lackluster rookie year. He did show flashes, though. He has been getting a majority of the first team reps as the outside receiver opposite Riley Cooper through OTAs. He is putting in the work after practice and has said that he is emulating what Matthews did a year ago after seeing his work pay off in the form of production.

Zach Ertz may be the best candidate to join Matthews as a one thousand yard receiver/tight end. Ertz has caught 94 passes for 1171 yards and seven touchdowns in his first two years in the NFL. This offseason he has worked with legendary offensive line coach Hudson Houck to become a better blocker. He also met with future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez to pick his brain on how to become elite. Ertz has put what he learned into practice and is, again, being talked about as a breakout candidate for the 2015 campaign.

Nelson Agholor is another receiver who has a chance to put up some numbers in 2015. First, he has to crack the starting lineup and is currently behind the veterans on the depth chart. He is learning from the veterans and will be looking to climb the depth chart once the pads go on and training camp rolls around. Every rookie on Chip Kelly’s team begins on the bottom of the depth chart and has to climb their way into playing time. Matthews was faced with the same task a year ago.

Two 1000-yard pass catchers on a single team in one season isn’t unheard of. In fact, there have been six occasions in which three players have caught over 1000 yards for one team. However, the Eagles have never done it and given the offseason additions, it may be more difficult than it was in the past two years.

Running backs coach Duce Staley has said that the team wants to get back to running the football like they did in 2013 (a 50/50 split between runs and passes). With DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles in the backfield, it wouldn’t be inconceivable to see 25 to 30 or more carries per game. This, obviously, would limit the balls to be spread around to the receivers.

However, the abundance of weapons on the offense could open up more space down the field for the pass catchers. Kelly’s offense thrives off of space and there should be plenty around with so many players for the defense to keep its eyes on.

If there was ever a group of playmakers who could become the first 1K duo for the Eagles, this would be it. They are selfless, hard-working and most importantly, young. These quadruplets will have years to produce for the Eagles and could very well make history, in more ways than one, for the team.

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