The 2015 season was terrible all around for the Philadelphia Eagles organization. From the front office to the coaches and players, no one lived to their internal or external expectations. In particular, the wide receivers’ performances were subpar to say the least.
Last season, the Eagles’ leading receiver was Jordan Matthews, who had a career year with 85 receptions for 997 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. Tight end Zach Ertz finished second behind Matthews with a career year of his own: 75 receptions for 853 yards and two touchdowns. After those two players, Philadelphia suffered a substantial drop-off in production.
With that being known, the Eagles addressed the wide receiver position in the offseason by signing veterans Rueben Randle and Chris Givens. The Eagles, trying to cultivate depth and give themselves additional options, signed a few undrafted free-agent wide receivers including Paul Turner of Louisiana Tech.
Turner, the 5-foot-11, 196-pound wideout, began his college career at LSU before transferring to Louisiana Tech for his final two years. As a junior at Louisiana Tech, Turner finished second on the team with 42 receptions for 514 receiving yards and four touchdowns. In his senior year, Turner continued to show consistency, hauling in 45 receptions for 657 receiving yards and three touchdowns. On the Bulldogs, he wasn’t the focal point of the offense — that was running back Kenneth Dixon. However, with two players playing well in front of NFL scouts who visited their games, there was a good chance that Turner would be noticed by an NFL team.
The Eagle-eyes in Philly didn’t miss him.
Turner has worked hard since rookie minicamp. Through two preseason games, Turner has nine receptions for 78 receiving yards. While those numbers are pedestrian, Turner has shown that he can play in the NFL by making above-average catches. His soft hands secure the ball in traffic, an attribute which greatly helps his chances of making the Eagles’ roster. Philadelphia wide receivers dropped a ton of passes last season, often at crucial points of games.
Turner showcased his reliable hands in the Eagles’ preseason game last week against the Steelers, where he made a ridiculous one-handed grab.
If Turner can continue to make spectacular plays the rest of the preseason, it will be hard to keep him off the 53-man roster. Turner has even caught the eye of starting quarterback Sam Bradford.
Bradford on Paul Turner: "He’s one of those guys who does everything right. He’s always in the right spot."
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) August 22, 2016
Currently, the Eagles’ top three wide receivers are Dorial Green-Beckham, Jordan Matthews, and Nelson Agholor. With the Eagles possibly keeping four running backs on the roster, you would have to think that Turner is competing with Josh Huff, Givens, and Randle for the fourth and fifth wide receiver spots.
It would be far-fetched to think the Eagles would cut Huff, especially since he was their third-round pick a few years ago. However, both Randle and Givens are expendable because they only signed one-year deals. Out of the two, Givens has shown more than Randle, who has been inconsistent this summer, but when you compare Turner and Givens, Turner is a more complete wide receiver. Givens is a deep threat, but Turner works more areas of the field and drops fewer passes.
With only two preseason games to go and the Eagles’ roster now down to 84 players, Turner is that much closer to a roster spot. Going off his two preseason performances, he should make the 53-man roster, but that can all change in these last two weeks.
Before the preseason began, I asked who would be this year’s Rasheed Bailey, who had a stellar 2015 preseason with the Eagles but did not make the 53-man roster. Turner could be that player, but hopefully this time around, the Eagles won’t make the mistake twice.
Paul Turner is a keeper … as long as he keeps showing that he can keep control of difficult passes thrown into tight windows.