WR3 Competition Is Expanding For Eagles

What once shaped up as Parris Campbell vs. John Ross had expanded to include Britain Covey and rookie Johnny Wilson.

Eagles rookie WR Johnny Wilson / John McMullen/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA - There is plenty of shelf life left for Britain Covey as one of the NFL’s best punt returners and the third-year pro is now even making some noise as a potential WR3 option for the Eagles.

The competition to complement A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith seems to have expanded from Parris Campbell as the favorite and John Ross trying to chase him down with his famed 4.22 speed to mulling a more piecemeal approach. The additions are Covey adding the traditional slot component into the mix and 6-foot-6 rookie Johnny Wilson serving as the blocker and red-zone threat due to his frame.

The undersized Covey is generating consistent separation at training camp, a testament to his short-area quickness in the slot.

Before Thursday night’s open practice at Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles spent some time mimicking their pre-game warmup routine and at one point Covey broke off with the tight ends running option routes inside the numbers.

Over nearly three decades of covering the NFL, Covey is one of the most meticulous players I’ve come across when it comes to preparation. There is an almost guaranteed future in coaching if the Utah product wants it down the line.

The third-year pro highlighted that to the public last week when asked about the WR3 competition in Philadelphia.

“If you think about this offense, we’ve got AJ, Smitty, Dallas [Goedert], and Saquon [Barkley], so your third receiver that’s out there needs to be able to affect the game in ways other than just being ball-centric because there’s only so many footballs to go around,” Covey explained astutely. 

“I think that’s why a lot of times in the past we’ve had Quez [Watkins] out there because he affects the game with his speed,” Covey continued. “Parris and John affect the game with their speed. I feel my route running and my ability with the ball is something similar. You can’t leave me. You have to be a threat in some way without needing the ball in your hand. 

“When you have that good of players as your ball-centric guys you have to have the other guys affect the game in some way.”

Head coach Nick Sirianni, a WR in college at Mount Union and once a receivers coach himself, discussed the more layered approach.

“When you have a receiving corps you're looking for different skill sets so you can run different styles of plays, get the guys the ball different ways,” Sirianni said. “As far as the No. 3 receiver, I mean, it can be a lot of different things, but you need different types of skill sets, and I'm really excited about the skill sets we have at the No. 3 receiver.”

Sirianni specifically mentioned Wilson’s blocking, Campbell’s YAC ability, Ross’ speed, and Covey’s abilities in the slot.

“It doesn't have to be all from one guy, right? It can be Johnny Wilson's blocking; Parris Campbell's ability to run with the ball in his hands and do different things with the ball in his hands; could be John Ross' speed,” the coach said. “So, yeah, you're looking for different things on different plays. Could be Britain Covey's ability in the slot.

“Again, not one person has to fill the role of anything. And it could. We're far away from having to play that and some games could look different than others.”

The unintended consequence of the platoon approach is revealing tendencies with personnel and risking predictability, something the Eagles believe can be mitigated by the versatility of both Brown and Smith, who can each seamlessly toggle between the X, Z and flex positions.

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