Weapon X Mailbag: What is Alshon Jeffery’s role going to be?

Hey, we’re back from the bye and several days away from hitting the Meadowlands! Let’s get to the questions.

@ClarkePiatt: What do you see as Alshon Jeffery’s role coming back into this young receiving core?

Uhh... I hope he doesn’t have a role at all.

You can separate Alshon Jeffery the Super Bowl hero from the Alshon Jeffery of 2020 in your mind. The Eagles have legitimate young talent at wideout in Travis Fulgham and Jalen Reagor for the first time in over a decade. Greg Ward is serviceable in the slot. John Hightower has both made rookie mistakes and flashed in 2020. Why should Alshon get any of their snaps?

I’m terrified the Eagles are going to force him on the field on the outside, taking snaps from both Reagor and Fulgham. It would maybe the most damning decision Doug Pederson’s ever made. Jeffery’s not going to be here next year! Build chemistry between your supposed franchise quarterback and your promising youngsters!

Lest we forget Alshon’s well-documented chemistry issues with Carson Wentz too...

Rolling with Reagor and Fulgham isn’t just the best move for the future health of the franchise, it’s probably gives the Eagles their best chances of winning on Sundays. Fulgham has gone full deus ex machina on Philly this season. Reagor’s got the juice. They’re both good right now! Why replace them with a slow, plodding, soon-to-be-31-year-old possession receiver who hasn’t played a game in almost 12 months?

I feel crazy for even having to discuss this, but with the state of the Eagles organization, no level of incompetence would surprise me!

Can you tell that I’m getting agitated about this idea?

The only role I’d be cool with him filling is as a red zone jump ball target. That would kinda work, right? My worry there is that it’ll be the most telegraphed play of all time and the defense will know it’s coming. I’d rather give those reps to Fulgham obviously. Heck, I’d rather give them to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside of all people for the pure upside play.

I have a black Alshon jersey. When he retires, I’ll wear it all the time. It’ll be a classic, but the Eagles making Jeffery a major part of the offense once again is bad for both 2020 and beyond.

@Alcheality: Bigger issue: Eagles injury management of Alshon Jeffery versus benching of Jordan Mailata?

As I covered above, the Alshon injury situation doesn’t matter much to me. It felt like a case of the team not wanting him back and him also not wanting to play. I get it from both sides. The Mailata thing kills me though.

Jason Peters holds an unprecedented amount of sway within the organization. Jordan Mailata has outplayed Peters on the field this season and is literally 15 years younger than him. It’s like the Alshon problem! Why go with the older, worse player who won’t be on the team next year instead of the younger, better player who could be a key contributor for years to come?

There’s a good shot the Eagles are on a three-game winning streak after Sunday and I really couldn’t be more pissed off about where the franchise is right now.

The Aristocrats!

@Ollie92557880: Why did the Eagles never try Nelson Agholor out wide like the Raiders have? It’s not like we’ve had many other inspiring options over the last couple years.

They did. He was not good. He had a disastrous start to his career, a very, very good 2017 campaign and then regressed immensely. It’s been a classic change-of-scenery move. It was never happening here. There was too much bad blood between him and the fan base that I believed hampered him, which, I mean, he’s human and I get, but the criticism was warranted.

Agholor needed a fresh start. He made countless good plays for the Birds in the Super Bowl. He was never sniffing that level again Philly and most teams didn’t think he was coming close to that elsewhere, given the cheap deal he signed with Las Vegas this offseason.

Fun fact: Agholor only has two more catches (17) than Richard Rodgers (15) this season.

@Philly4442: If we could somehow examine JJAW being a complete non-factor in games (minus 2 plays) is it A. that he isn’t getting open or B. is getting open but not getting looks when he is on the field?

JJAW just can’t get separation at the NFL level. That was never the hallmark of his game coming out of Stanford, but it’s been worse than expected in the pros. His game was predicated on timing and catches in traffic and he’s never been able to get on the same page as Wentz, who clearly has no faith in the second-year wideout.

He’s just bad I think unfortunately. It sucks. The whole thing sucks. We’ll hear about D.K. Metcalf until the end of time.

@95Sports: Would pork roll be good on a cheesesteak?

In terms of considering this a super legitimate cheesesteak or giving it to an out-of-towner as their first cheesesteak? Absolutely not. As a means to mix it up on a Sunday when you’re hungover, why not?

Listen, I take cheesesteaks seriously. I wrote a whole article for NBC Sports Philly last year about my favorite spots. There’s room for variety though. Not everything has to be a pure whiz wit.

You grab a provolone wit from a local joint, come home, cook up pork roll in a couple minutes and throw it on there? It’s probably fire.

Again, if you’re really from Philly, don’t be scared to try different things out. You know what a good cheesesteak is. You’ve eaten 500 hundred of them in your life. Live a little. You ever have a steak, egg and cheese? You ever have a pizza steak? You ever have a cheesesteak smothered in buffalo sauce from that little food truck outside the Independence Mall? You ever have a chicken cheesesteak from Philip’s Steaks?

Save the classics when your friends from college are visiting. If it’s a random Friday night and you’re grabbing a steak before coming home and binging Ratched on Netflix, do what your heart desires.

[BLG Note: Totally in favor of adding pork roll to a cheesesteak.]