Eagles WR A.J. Brown 'Helped Spark' Improvements by DeVonta Smith

It took just one year for receiver A.J. Brown to make his mark on the Philadelphia Eagles, and because of it, he's clearly a top-10 player in his position.

The Philadelphia Eagles made quite the splash during last year's NFL Draft when they executed a trade with the Tennessee Titans to acquire star receiver A.J. Brown. 

As a result, the Eagles worked their way to the Super Bowl and Brown had a career year with 1,496 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first season wearing green. 

Brown is now entering his second year with Philadelphia and is once again a preseason top-10 receiver according to Pro Football Focus.

"Last season, we saw the kind of impact that Brown can have on an offense," writes PFF. "Already a player who had elite stats against any kind of coverage or player, Brown's arrival transformed the Philadelphia offense and helped spark a corresponding huge improvement from DeVonta Smith at receiver and Jalen Hurts at quarterback. Brown averaged 2.59 yards per route run and passes thrown his way generated a 118.8 passer rating."

Not everyone was sold on Hurts this time last year, at least not the way they are now. 

In his second season starting 15 games for the Eagles, Hurts eclipsed 3,700 yards and threw 22 touchdowns and just six interceptions.

While we'll never know for sure, it's hard to imagine Hurts hits those marks without Brown. But like PFF points out he wasn't the only one who benefited. 

Smith was already impressive in his rookie season racking up more than 900 yards and five touchdowns in his first year in the NFL. 

But with Brown on the field, teams were forced to thin coverage overloads and allow Smith to catch 31 more passes, nearly 1,200 yards, and two more touchdowns.

With Brown's continued influence on the roster and another year together as a trio, it'll be critical the group repeats their success in order for the Eagles to make another run at earning the franchise's second Lombardi Trophy.

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