It was a quite rookie debut for Eagles receiver Johnny Wilson. Unless you were really paying close attention to the 10 snaps he got in the season opener, it may not have been evident.
Kellen Moore was, for sure. The Eagles offensive coordinator liked what he saw from Wilson in the limited time he was on the field.
“Johnny did an awesome job, fired up,” said Moore on Wednesday as the Eagles begin preparing to celebrate their home opener against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night.
“There's a bunch of highlight blocks in there. He took advantage of his 10 or so snaps. He's got a role for us.”
Wilson’s role will continue to develop as the season progresses.
“Obviously, it'll evolve as we go week in and week out from a run game perspective,” said Moore. “In the pass game, he'll come alive as we go, and we're really excited about him.”
Moore also liked what he saw from Jahan Dotson, who arrived in a trade with the Washington Commanders on Aug. 22.
Dotson had a crash course in the playbook but was still able to play 32 snaps against the Green Bay Packers.
Both he and Wilson were targeted only once, however.
“I think he (Dotson) did an excellent job hopping in there based off the tight circumstance in which he got here,” said Moore. “He did a really good job. I thought he had a great understanding of what was being asked of him and the offense. He was able to play out there in some of the no-huddle situations, which isn't easy when you come in. We're really excited about him. We'll keep building it.”
Dotson give the Eagles a solid outside threat which will allow Moore more flexibility when it comes to deploying DeVonta Smith and sometimes A.J. Brown in the slot after either using motion to get them there or lining them up inside from the get-go with Dotson on the outside.
And Moore likes Smith in the slot.
“He just does an excellent job,” said Moore. “He's got great spatial awareness, great feel for the game. I think when you play inside as a receiver, there's a lot more variables. There's a nickel on top of you, but there's a safety, there's backers. You've got to have the awareness to kind of see - have great spatial awareness to recognize all those aspects and see how those moving pieces change the picture for you.”
Moore said that Smith did well in finding open space in the Packers’ zone defense a couple of times.
“He’ll continue to play outside in different roles and different situations, and we'll move those guys around,” said Moore. “A.J. will be in there some. That's the beauty of what we have at the receiver group is those guys can play all over the field.”
