The Philadelphia Eagles need this to happen.
According to Zach Berman of The Athletic, there's an internal sentiment that a Philadelphia Eagles star has another level to reach.
Who is the player, you ask? It's WR DeVonta Smith, who could be the Eagles' No. 1 WR next season since A.J. Brown could be traded this offseason.
"Regardless of what happens with Brown, there’s an internal sentiment that DeVonta Smith has another level he can reach — and the Eagles can create an environment for Smith to reach it," Berman wrote. "Smith’s 113 targets were the second-most in his career, and they still ranked No. 22 in the NFL. Since entering the NFL, Smith is No. 77 in targets per route run and No. 10 in receiving yards per target."
Smith had 77 receptions for 1,008 yards and four touchdowns in 2025. The four TD receptions were a career low.
“We understand that that’s part of our job, that if DeVonta has 112 or 140 (targets), somebody else is gonna have a little bit less, then it’s gonna be, why did he get more targets?” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said. “And so we understand that it’s kind of the flow of how it goes. …Last year, Smitty was highly productive, but we ran the crap out of the ball, right? And so, I think it just all depends. Obviously, we’ll do whatever we need to do to try to win each game. Getting DeVonta the ball and getting him targets is always going to be important.”
The Eagles' new OC is Sean Mannion. He's replacing Kevin Patullo, who was fired after just one season as OC.
Philadelphia lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round of the 2026 NFL playoffs. Smith had eight catches for 70 yards in the Eagles-49ers game.
The Eagles selected Smith with the 10th overall pick in the 2021 NFl Draft. The talented playmaker helped Philadelphia beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.
After getting bounced in the wild-card round, the Eagles are under immense pressure to win the Super Bowl next season. It will be fascinating to see how Philadelphia does with Mannion calling offensive plays.
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