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NFL draft analyst Josh Norris dropped an interesting tidbit on a recent video he put out on Twitter. According to Norris, the Eagles gave Carson Wentz a list of about “six or seven” wide receiver prospects from the 2017 NFL Draft that he “needs to watch and give his input on.” So Howie Roseman wasn’t kidding around earlier this offseason when he said the Eagles will value Wentz’s input when it comes to roster additions.
This nugget is particularly interesting because it totally matches up with a rumor we heard earlier this offseason. That rumor indicated the Eagles want Wentz to work out with eight wide receiver prospects.
So who are the players? The rumor from earlier this offseason indicated JuJu Smith-Schuster and Cooper Kupp were two of the names. Wentz was also seen working out with Chad Hansen when he was working out with Kupp, so one would imagine he could be on the list as well.
The name Norris dropped in his video was a name that hasn’t gotten a lot of pre-draft buzz: West Virginia pass catcher Shelton Gibson. The 6-1, 174 pound Gibson is a big play threat. He caught 84 passes for 1,898 yards during his collegiate career which comes out to an eye-popping 22.6 yards per reception. He scored 17 touchdowns combined in his last two years at West VA. Take a look at his 99th-percentile 60-yard shuttle time:
To recap: Gibson, Hansen, Smith-Schuster, and Kupp appear to be four of the wide receivers the Eagles like from this year’s class. That leaves three or four or five names remaining depending on the true size of the list.
Who could the remaining players be? I think we might be able to assume the top three wide receiver prospects from this year’s class could be in play. Corey Davis, John Ross, and Mike Williams all were hosted by the Eagles on official pre-draft visits.
Players like Ross and Gibson represent the kind of deep threats the Eagles have sorely lacked and have seemingly been looking to add for quite some time now.
One can only wonder which receiver Wentz liked the most and how his recommendation might factor into the Eagles’ draft plans. It’s hard to believe the Eagles would solely rely on Wentz’s recommendation, but it’s not crazy that they’d want to get their franchise quarterback’s opinion on the players he’ll potentially be working with.
These names will be worth keeping an eye on once the draft rolls around in a month. It’ll also be interesting to see if the Eagles are connected to these players in any more pre-draft visits, workouts, etc. Stay tuned.
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Hat tip to @PatrickMCausey and @Birdsaretheword for bringing the Norris video to my attention.