Success reflects Agholor’s resurgence

Birds’ surprising success reflects Agholor’s resurgence

Overturning inaccurate beliefs. Striving to achieve. Dealing with stress. And maybe, celebrating a world championship.

That’s the story of the Eagles as they prepare for what once seemed unlikely, a spot in Super Bowl LII. And it’s also the story of Nelson Agholor’s 2017 journey.

A Chip Kelly invention, a first-round draft pick so prone to dropping passes last season that any public mention of him was in snarl form, Agholor was not even widely expected to have a chance to play a third season with the Birds. That’s how spotty his first two were.

Yet there he will be in the slot Sunday when the Eagles play the Patriots. And yes, that will be him afterward, claiming satisfaction should the Eagles have dragged that Lombardi Trophy through the room.

“I won’t feel satisfied unless we finish where we need to finish,” Agholor was saying over the weekend, before the Birds chartered to Minneapolis. “So my mindset is about preparing very hard this week. I thought we had a great week of practice with a lot of great effort and great focus, and we want to keep it going.

“And then, from then on, when the season is over I will be able to sit back and reflect.”

There will be plenty to revisit.

It was just a year earlier, after bungling several passes in a loss in Seattle, that Agholor was gently removed from Doug Pederson’s immediate plans … and when he more than understood.

“I’ve got to get out of my own head,” he said at the time. “I am pressing too much. I am worried about too many things.”

Though the Birds’ 2015 first-round draft choice recovered to finish his second season with some promising moments, his image as a failure had been cast. By then, it was the fans who were worried.

But Torrey Smith and Alshon Jeffery were added in the offseason, and Jordan Matthews was traded. The slot receiver position was open, and Carson Wentz was ready to uncork an MVP-level season.

So there was Agholor, set to benefit. And a year after catching 36 passes for 365 yards and two touchdowns, he would catch 62 passes for 768 yards and eight scores.

“He’s the type of guy you can move around,” Pederson said. “I like his speed, utilizing that, and his quickness. We keep looking for ways to get him the football. I would say he’s done a great job embracing that role.”

With that, suddenly, stunningly, Agholor has become a fan favorite.

“We love our fans,” said Agholor, who never complained about being heckled through his two-season runup. “We feel their energy on game day. We feel their passion. We have a lot of respect for them and the energy they brought, especially when we got to play two playoff games at home. We wouldn’t be in the Super Bowl if we didn’t win the games we did at home and get that home field advantage and that atmosphere at home.”

Agholor boosted his new legend with an ability to produce when it mattered, averaging 17.5 yards on his third-down receptions. And his electrifying 21-yard, end-around run in the second quarter set up the Birds’ only touchdown, a one-yard LeGarrette Blount run, in a 15-10 playoff victory over Atlanta.

“I think what makes Nelson so versatile is No. 1, he’s a very smart player,” offensive coordinator Frank Reich said. “He processes things quickly. He can learn all the positions. Whenever a question is asked in the meetings, he’s the guy who knows the answer all the time. He’s just a very smart player. And then secondly, physically, he just has the attributes. He has vertical speed. He has shortarea quickness, and he has explosiveness. That makes it easy to want to put him in those positions.”

The Eagles put Agholor in a position to contribute to a Super Bowl team when that wasn’t an idea raging with popularity. Given that chance, Agholor made it work.

“This is something that you are blessed to do,” he said, “to play this game for this long.”

To the surprise of plenty, he’s played it into a third NFL season.

“Right now, my focus is on getting to Minneapolis,” he said. “From there, it’s just about executing what I need to execute.”

In a matter of days, he may even celebrate it all. The team achievements. The personal ones, too.

ERIC GAY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Eagles quarterback Nate Sudfeld, second from bottom, is followed by running back LeGarrette Blount, linebacker Mychal Kendricks, and quarterback Nick Foles, as they arrive Sunday in Minneapolis.

MATT SLOCUM — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Eagles receiver Nelson Agholor reacts after catching a firstdown pass during the second half of the NFC championship game against Minnesota. In a year, Agholor has gone from a draft bust to a key piece in a Super Bowl team.