Eagles Plan With DeVonta Smith Could be Affected by the Limitations of Others

The Eagles want to move DeVonta Smith around but how will that impact others who may not be as adept at moving into different WR positions?

PHILADELPHIA - Where does DeVonta Smith fit in the Eagles offense?

Everywhere, according to the Eagles’ brass that selected the Alabama Heisman Trophy winner with the 10th overall selection on Friday night.

The undersized “Slim Reaper” is going to be a moveable chess piece for Nick Sirianni so forget about the traditional X, Z, or slot designations.

“As far as just where he fits in the offense I think if you look at any offense that I've been a part of for the past eight years, we move our guys around all over the place,” the rookie head coach said. “So to say he plays ‘F’ [Flex] in the slot, to say he plays the ‘X’, he plays the ‘Z’, yes, he'll play all those things because we move our guys around, how we want to get them the ball.”

Eagles VP of player personnel Andy Weidl focused on Smith’s selflessness when evaluating the 166-pounder who played plenty of split end with the Crimson Tide despite his diminutive size.

“You want to talk about a teammate that would go above and beyond to do anything to help his team win, [Smith] embodied that,” said Weidl.

In the NFL, typically undersized receivers will play more at flanker or in the slot so you can get them off the line of scrimmage and away from press coverage.

In Smith’s case, it wasn’t an issue at the highest level in college thanks to his quickness and route-running ability. Whether those traits translate from historic production in the SEC, college football's toughest conference, to the NFL is to be determined.

“What I saw in DeVonta was just a guy who can consistently win one-on-one,” Sirianni said. "It's a little different with how he does it. He does it with speed, quickness. He does it at the top of the route, beginning of the route, off the line of scrimmage. But I consistently saw him win one-on-one versus some of those top corners in the SEC.”

So let’s give Smith the benefit of the doubt as a top-tier talent who can overcome the size deficiencies in play effectively all over Sirianni’s formations.

That doesn’t mean the Eagles’ other receivers, who don’t have Smith’s talent, can do the same.

In other words, it’s hard to imagine the bigger options like Travis Fulgham and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside being all that effective as flex or Z receivers. Jalen Reagor doesn’t have the route-running skills of Smith, so he’ll likely need to be schemed up off the line of scrimmage and away from press-man coverage.

Second-year options John Hightower and Quez Watkins are also probably better utilized as either flex or flanker options.

Sirianni certainly can and will move his other WRs around but if they are not effective in those roles where's the measuring stick of diminishing returns?

“That's just not my philosophy. I don't believe that,” Sirianni said when asked if the limitations of others would force Smith to be anchored more at the X position out of necessity by Si.com’s Eagle Maven. “So, again, the best offenses I've been on have been able to move guys around, and they have to know each position.”

Sirianni then defaulted to Smith’s ability again, which isn’t projected to be the problem.

“What we see in DeVonta is the ability to move around,” the coach added. “I saw a very high football IQ in him when we did our meetings with him. He was able to explain his offense in great detail, what he was doing, what his quarterback was doing, what his other receivers were doing.

“So, he definitely gives us that option and position flexibility. He's able to play inside, he’s able to play outside. And so, again, that's just not my philosophy. We're going to have to move him around, and that's just how we roll with our offense.”

John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s EagleMaven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.