Two Eagles wide receivers thriving while Jeffery and Smith struggle

PHILADELPHIA - On the surface, the Eagles should have great cause for concern with free agent wide receivers Torrey Smith and Alshon Jeffery, who are not living up to the lofty expectations this season.

Smith, for one, tweeted Sunday that he’s “in the middle of the worst stretch of my career” after dropping a pass that would have gone at least 30 yards against the Chargers. That came two weeks after he dropped a touchdown pass against Kansas City.

Jeffery, meanwhile, is on pace for 860 yards, or about the same number of yards as he has had in each of the last two seasons. But injuries and a suspension limited Jeffery to nine games in 2015 and 12 in 2016.

Despite their struggles, the Eagles are 3-1, and the offense is humming along, in large part because tight end Zach Ertz and wide receiver Nelson Agholor have benefited greatly just from the attention Jeffery and Smith have drawn from opposing defenses.

Ertz is tied for third in the NFL with 26 receptions through four games, and he’s fifth in receiving yards at 326, heading into the Eagles’ game this Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. He leads all tight ends in both categories.

Agholor, a disappointment his first two seasons as a first-round draft pick, has 12 receptions for 173 yards. While those numbers wouldn’t indicate a No. 1 receiver, they are well ahead of the pace from Agholor’s modest career highs of 36 receptions for 365 yards set last season.

“I don’t think the addition of Torrey and Alshon can be understated,” Ertz said. “Alshon is obviously a dynamic receiver. He’s a proven receiver in this league, and he’s obviously going to get the No. 1 cornerback each and every week … So just from a totem-pole standpoint, you would think, at best, I would get the No. 2 guy. Often times, it’s the safety or the nickel or the dime linebacker. Dime is kind of the flavor of the week for me.

“But whatever the matchup is, Alshon and Torrey have helped this whole offense out.”

Agholor has seen that, too.

“I think we’ve done a good job of putting guys in different places, so it has benefited whoever is able to maximize their matchup or their route abilities,” he said.

So far, that has left Ertz and Agholor to work against weaker defenders, especially in the middle of the field. Both are used as slot receivers, and they have much more room to work with while Smith serves as a deep threat and Jeffery as a player known for making tough catches on sideline passes.

The Eagles’ offense has benefited as a whole. The Eagles are ranked third in the NFL in yards per game with 392.5. Sure, much of that is because of the resurgent Eagles’ running attack, which compiled 407 yards in the last two weeks, and averages 143.3 yards per game, third in the NFL.

But the passing attack has more than held its own, ranked 11th.

That’s why the Eagles are confident that once teams start paying more attention to Ertz and Agholor, and perhaps even the running game led by LeGarrette Blount, that will, in turn, open things up for Jeffery and Smith.

When asked about Jeffery’ production, Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich responded: “I don’t think it’s been off the charts, certainly number-wise, but we had some big plays… We had been running the ball pretty well, so the receivers naturally haven’t been piling up huge stats when you’re running it the way we’re running. I’m sure we’ll have some games where he’ll have some big-catch games, because one of these games, we’re going to have to throw it 40 or 50 times.

“That’s the way it’s going to happen, likely. It will all even out over 16 games.”

Smith said he’s hopeful that happens, too. He told reporters Wednesday that he might have exaggerated when he said he’s in the worst stretch of his career.

“When I thought about it, it really wasn’t,” Smith said. “And I was thinking about it.”

That’s not necessarily a good thing, however, because Smith did have two disappointing seasons with the 49ers after signing a five-year, $40 million deal. Smith had 53 catches for 930 yards in those seasons combined. The 49ers released Smith after last season, and he signed a three-year deal worth about $5 million per season with the Eagles.

So far, Smith only has 10 catches for 134 yards this season.

For now, Ertz said the Eagles have been able to adjust.

“Each and every week, it’s going to be a different guy leading the pack,” he said. “I know I’ve kind of led it a few weeks, but I don’t expect it to be the case each and every week… There are going to be four guys at the top of the totem pole.”