Why the Eagles Supporting Wideout is One of the League’s Best
When you hear people talk about a team's alternate receiver, the immediate thought is that you may be discussing a secondary weapon to the offense—a player who is overshadowed, the second-tier look, and dependent on the top receiver to draw attention from the defense. In Philadelphia, however, things are out of the ordinary. DeVonta Smith is considered a wide receiver two on paper, but watching him on screen tells a different story. Smith is a reliable and dynamic receiver, and his precise route running can be very threatening to defenses when coordinators overcompensate for his partner in crime, A.J. Brown.
To understand just how good Smith is and how he reshapes the role of wide receiver two, it helps to compare him with other receivers that are also considered top-tier “second options” in the league. Out of Miami, Jaylen Waddle fell short of Smith’s 833 receiving yards last year, collecting 744 for himself. Though he exceeds Smith in career yards, he has eight fewer touchdowns on record, which helps to show the efficiency of Smith’s hands in the clutch. As for Deebo Samuel, another great option, now with Washington but previously dominant with San Francisco, he plays a more hybrid role. He splits his role between receiving and rushing, earning impressive stats on both fronts. However, when it comes to strictly receiving, Smith is more favorable through his consistency, route precision, and separation than Samuel is. Even when he cannot find that separation, Smith is great at handling contested catches, which makes him an elite asset. Smith's largest competition for the secondary receiver mold is Tee Higgins. Out of Cincinnati, Higgins is an exceptional receiver with 4,731 yards and 35 touchdowns over 74 career games. A notable mark of his talent is his clutch hands, with 238 receptions for first downs. Smith is slightly less efficient in all of these categories, but his pace and dominance in matchups keep him at the same level on a game-by-game basis. Of these receivers’ careers, Smith's reception to target rate is the highest at 70.4%, proving just how reliable he is when Jalen Hurts looks his way. Smith’s adaptability and skill evenly fare with these great players, and keep him in the conversation as one of the best wide receiver twos in the league.
What makes DeVonta Smith so great and sets him apart from others in this category is his versatility within the Eagles' offense. Though he isn’t used for rushing yards, he can line up outside or inside the slot, beat defenders in man or zone coverage, and can either stretch the field vertically or carve routes underneath. Pairing him with A.J. Brown forces defenses into an impossible decision—double Brown, and Smith will exploit single coverage; split attention on the two to risk giving them both a chance to expose the cracks in the defense—even when targets are highly contested. His connection with Jalen Hurts continues to grow, especially in this 2025 campaign. As of Week Five, he has 272 receiving yards and has caught 25 of his 30 targets. With A.J. Brown in what seems to be a slump, it appears that Smith is emerging as a higher priority than he has been in the past, as Hurts looks his way in more and more crucial situations.
The trust that Hurts has placed in Smith’s hands this season has turned into some of his most clutch moments. One example was his Week Three touchdown catch to put the Eagles ahead of the Rams after they fell 26-7 in the third quarter. Whether it’s his toe tapping on the sideline or big third-down conversions, Smith has become a player that the Eagles can rely on when times are tough. He has also become a league-wide threat, proving that “wide receiver two” is just a label, since he would likely be the number one receiver of so many other franchises. It goes unquestioned that he and A.J. Brown make up one of the most dynamic duos in football, and DeVonta Smith is certainly in the conversation for the league's best wide receiver twos.
