Eagles Predicted to Make Shocking Move With Super Bowl Champion WR

The Philadelphia Eagles will never be more desperate for help at wide receiver than they were late in the 2024 season, with both A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith dealing with injuries and WR3 option Jahan Dotson totally lost in the offense.

It was a primo opportunity for everyone else — anyone else — to step up, take charge and catch some passes. There were no takers.

Instead, the Eagles turned to running back Saquon Barkley and a stellar defense to carry the load down the stretch before putting it all together in the playoffs, capped by a pair of blowout wins in the NFC Championship Game over the Washington Commanders and in Super Bowl LIX over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Now, headed into 2025, aside from Brown and Smith and a resurgent Dotson, who shined in the playoffs, there are 9 receivers left vying for essentially 3 spots, with USA Today and Eagles Wire’s Geoffrey A Knox predicting second-year wide receiver and 2024 sixth round pick Johnny Wilson could be the odd man out.

Brown, Smith, and Dotson, a former first round pick, are making the roster. That means the other nine players coming to training camp, in all likelihood, are competing for the final three spots.

“Don’t be shocked if second-year WR Johnny Wilson plays himself off the Eagles’ 53-man roster,” Knox wrote on June 29. “Depending on how Ainias Smith and Johnny Wilson perform, they could be in a heap of trouble come final cuts. Philadelphia likes Wilson’s size. Heck, they’ve been obsessed with finding big targets for several seasons now, but Wilson doesn’t catch the ball very well, which isn’t something you’d like to hear about a young wide receiver.”

Wilson Could Still Tap Into Incredible Upside

If you’re a college football fan, you probably remember Wilson from his time playing for Florida State during a great run by the Seminoles in which they went 23-4 over 2022 and 2023.

Wilson was one of the best players for the Seminoles in that stretch and formed a potent wide receiver duo with current Buffalo Bills rookie Keon Coleman.

The 6-foot-7, 231-pound Wilson spent the first 2 seasons of his college career at Arizona State before transferring to Florida State, where he was a 2-time All-ACC pick. Wilson had 84 receptions for 1,514 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns in his final 2 collegiate seasons while missing 3 games due to injury in 2023.

The Eagles took Wilson in the sixth round (No. 185 overall) of the 2024 NFL draft and signed a 4-year, $4.1 million contract. As a rookie, he had just 5 receptions for 38 yards and 1 touchdown in 16 games.

“An enormous target with an elite catch radius, Wilson is still in the process of learning to play to his traits,” NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote in his pre-draft evaluation. “ … He flashes impressive catches here and there but generally fails to impose his frame and strength on defenders, leading to a disappointing contested-catch rate for such a big man. ”

Dotson, on the other hand, has been one of the NFL’s worst starting wide receivers since the Commanders selected him in the first round (No. 19 overall) of the 2022 NFL draft — he’s led the league in dropped passes over the last 3 seasons.