June 02, 2026
Bill Streicher/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Eagles' passing offense should be more widespread if Sean Mannion's offense is working correctly.
Now that A.J. Brown is gone to the Patriots, the focus of the passing game will shift to DeVonta Smith.
Slim Reaper has been waiting for this moment, treating this upcoming season as his chance to emerge into a true WR1, driven like a madman to elevate from really good annual 1,000-yardish wide receiver status to someone held in higher esteem.
Smith has eclipsed 1,000 yards in each of the past three seasons, and only didn't in 2023 because he played 13 games. But his per-game average that season (64 yards) was actually the third-highest of his career and paced him for another 1,000-yarder.
Still, Smith's best season of 1,196 yards and his personal-best of eight touchdowns doesn't measure up against the franchise-record 1,496 yards that Brown produced in 2022 along with 11 TDs, a season that propelled him to upper crust of NFL wideouts.
That's the echelon Smith now covets, and the former Heisman winner has an obsession in 2026 to prove that he, too, can be mentioned in the same sentence as Chase, Jefferson, Nacua and the other guys who disappear within seconds of the start of your annual fantasy football draft.
But how Smith views his upcoming season contrasted with new coordinator Sean Mannion's vision for the offense might not align perfectly, and that's OK for an Eagles offense that shouldn't feel the need to have an apples-to-apples replacement for the truckloads of yards and touchdowns that Brown delivered for the past four seasons.
Smith might be hellbent on becoming the next Great One, but if Mannion's playbook bares any resemblance to the ones from his coaching influences, the idea of one receiver commanding the majority of targets or being the sole game-breaker who other defensive coordinators aim to eliminate each week should get tossed out the window.
Coaches from the West Coast tree have been known to design schemes that were built to spread the ball, capitalize on specific mismatches created by play action, and function off space and timing as opposed to the Eagles' habit of targeting Brown and Smith at high volumes with a flurry of predictable routes that require the receiver to win on nearly every snap.
The Eagles had tried to pad their offense with better No. 3 options – Howie Roseman grossly overpaid in 2024 by sending a third-round pick to a division rival to acquire former Commanders wideout Jahan Dotson – but for most of the Nick Sirianni/Jalen Hurts era, WR3 has been little more than a hood ornament.
Dotson, who appeared more comfortable in the offense at training camp last season in his second year with the team, couldn't translate his summer emergence into meaningful regular season action. He ended up catching 18 passes – good for fifth on the team, behind even running back Saquon Barkley. Meanwhile, the 155 receptions between Brown and Smith represented nearly 50 percent of the team's total receptions.
In Green Bay, where Mannion was coaching quarterbacks under Matt LaFleur, the top two Packers wideouts in 2025 combined for 90 receptions, with Romeo Doubs reeling in 55 and Christian Watson adding 35. They represented just 27 percent of the team's total receptions for an offense that ranked above Philadelphia's in both points scored and total yards.
In 2023, the 49ers scored the NFL's third-most points and went to the Super Bowl behind a Kyle Shanahan-designed offense that featured Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey, but no one player was miles above the next in that foursome in the pecking order.
| Niners | Targets | Rec | Yds | TDs |
| Brandon Aiyuk | 105 | 75 | 1,342 | 7 |
| Christian McCaffrey | 83 | 67 | 564 | 7 |
| George Kittle | 90 | 65 | 1,020 | 6 |
| Deebo Samuel | 89 | 60 | 892 | 7 |
If Mannion's offense works, and if his players adjust to it early enough, the Eagles have more than enough firepower to resemble an offense that's both productive and multidimensional.
Smith is surely capable of mirroring Aiyuk's 2023 season, and between first-round receiver Makai Lemon, tight end Dallas Goedert, trade acquisition Dontayvion Wicks, second-round tight end Eli Stowers, and newcomer Marquise Brown all joining with versatile superstar running back Saquon Barkley, who can still be more weaponized in the passing game, there's enough optionality and talent for the Eagles to be imposing offensively even without Brown there to terrorize defenses.
The offensive line needs to be healthy, and the run game with Barkley must be the meal ticket again, but the passing offense shouldn't lose its potency just because Brown is off to Boston.
There's also a defense that could easily be top five in the NFL and a quarterback who should be driven by last year's playoff failure and his favorite target essentially begging to get away from him.
This isn't to suggest the Eagles are better without Brown. But if Mannion's scheme works, the Eagles shouldn't miss Brown nearly as much as he missed Mike Vrabel.
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