Todd Pinkston by Mark Wimer
Isn't Todd Pinkston the #2 WR going into the season?

Regardless of the arrival of James Thrash (who led the team in 2001, but not since, and who has since rejoined his old team, the Redskins, via a trade this past offseason), Todd Pinkston has led the Eagles' WR over the last 2 seasons in receiving yardage and TDs However, last season, the Eagle's WR only accounted for 5 receiving TDs (the RBs caught 10, the TE's 2). The power-outage at WR helped spur the team to bring in Terrell Owens, who is going to be the teams' #1 WR unless a catastrophic injury knocks him out of the lineup - but aside from Pinkston and Owens, the only other WR of note on the team is Freddie Mitchell - he hasn't shown anything to convince observers that he is ready to start for the Eagles coming into 2004. It is conceivable that Mitchell could mount a charge during training camp, but right now, Pinkston has the #2 slot and it's his to lose.

Don't count on Pinkston fading away - in fact, with a credible #1 across from him in 2004, Pinkston may improve his numbers significantly over his 2003 campaign (one would hope so, anyway - 36/575/2 isn't anything to write home about). The rest of the Eagles hope that Pinkston catches enough TDs that Terrell Owens DOESN'T catch more than 15 - sparing the team the sight of Andy Reid wearing tights during practice sessions!

Freddie Mitchell by Andy Hicks
To call Freddie Mitchell a slow developer is being kind. However the light finally came on during the second half of last season. For the first half of the season, Freddie ambled along to 12 catches for 193 yards and 1 TD. This improved significantly in the second half to 23-305-1. These figures do not have fantasy stud written all over them, but they offer a promise of what could happen should Philadelphia air it out a bit more. With Terrell Owens on board this can be expected.

First of all for Mitchell to get some fantasy approval he needs to beat out Todd Pinkston. Todd Pinkston will likely open the season opposite Owens, but I expect Mitchell to outplay him and earn the starting position early in the season.

Let's look at some key information from last year. Pinkston's reception to target ratio dropped from 51.72% of targeted passes caught in 2002 to only 37.50% in 2003. Freddie Mitchell's went up from 48.00% in 2002 to 52.31% in 2003. Away from the numbers is a more crucial guide into the situation. We look back to the playoffs. Green Bay has the lead, Philadelphia is in desperation time at 4th and 26. Offensive Coordinator Brad Childress to Donovan McNabb "Just get it to Freddie. Give us a chance." Freddie got it and the Eagles eventually progressed. The NFC Championship game against Carolina was next. Mitchell was the only wideout blocking and mixing it up with the Panthers secondary. He caught 4 of the 5 catches to wide receivers that day. Do you think the coaching staff notices stuff like this? Donovan McNabb certainly has.

Whilst I would advise against drafting Mitchell in all but deep leagues there is a diamond in the rough waiting to develop. Watch for signs of weakness from Pinkston and then nab Mitchell. Expect Mitchell to develop one step further this year and finally earn the No. 2 role.