Inside Out

The Eagles made an important move Thursday, trading with the NFC East-rival Commanders for 2022 first-round pick, Jahan Dotson, exchanging several draft picks for the former Nittany Lion.

Dotson should comfortably fit as the third wide receiver in 11 personnel (three wide receiver formations) for the Philadelphia Eagles, who’ve had depth issues at the position this offseason.

Here’s Dotson’s career profile so far:

 

Dotson has a career total of 84 receptions, catching around 62% of passes thrown his way, for 1,041 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also averages 12.39 yards per reception over his career.

Given that Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is likely to move his receivers everywhere, let’s take a look at Dotson’s statistics in the slot:

Overall, Dotson has more targets, receptions and yards playing the “Z” spot – a wide split away on the opposite side of the boundary, off the line of scrimmage.

However, despite having almost half the number of targets in the slot, Dotson has almost exactly the same amount of touchdowns from inside, and a similar yards-per-reception average.

Dotson also has caught a higher percentage of his targets from the slot.

Finally, here’s how Dotson compares to the Eagles’ third receiving options from last season, which include Quez Watkins, Olamide Zaccheaus, and Julio Jones:

When comparing relative statistics such as reception percentage and yards per reception, it’s clear that the Eagles have made an upgrade from last season.

Dotson ranks third in reception percentage, but that number should increase with a more accurate quarterback throwing to Dotson in Jalen Hurts.

Dotson also – and more importantly – ranks second in yards per reception. This means that the Eagles should expect some explosive plays when Dotson touches the football.

Ultimately, the Eagles needed help and depth at the receiver position.

Dotson is a piece that should make an immediate impact and hopefully open up Moore’s offense so that the new coordinator feels comfortable moving Brown and Smith around on the field.

– Sam Finkel is a staff writer for InsideTheBirds.com whose focus is on analytics.