McNutt Adds Intrigue to Wide-Out Battle for Eagles

The Eagles used five of their nine draft picks on offensive players despite fielding an offense than ranked fourth in total offense last season.

One of those nine players was sixth-round pick, receiver Marvin McNutt.

If teams are still in the market for a veteran pass-catcher, the Eagles might be a team that they could come calling.

While nobody is suggesting McNutt is going to step on the field and compete for a spot right away, at 6-3, 215 pounds he is the biggest receiver on the Eagles roster - he could have a shot at sticking around.

Some had McNutt as a second or third round talent after catching 82 balls for 1,315 yards and 12touchdowns last season for Iowa but where does that leave the rest of the veterans on the team?

Riley Cooper, Jason Avant and Chad Hall are the incumbents behind starters DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin.  Could one of them be had if a team came calling to make room for McNutt?

Cooper would seem to be the one guy who should be on the look-out.  In two seasons with the Eagles, he has just 23 catches for 432 yards and two touchdowns and has yet to establish a real role in the Eagles offense.

As for the popular Avant, he is a guy who is very reliable, solid, yet unspectacular as the Eagles go-to number three guy.  Is Cooper ready to challenge Avant for the third spot on the depth chart?

Doubtful.

Could McNutt take the roster spot of Hall?  Its easy to say yes to that one, Hall isnt a huge part of the offense and is on the roster more for his return ability.  However, adding guys like Brandon Boykin, Cliff Harris and Bryce Brown, the Eagles might have other options in the return game.

The next question would be is McNutt to much mike Avant and Cooper and would the Eagles want to keep Hall and replace one of their veteran wide-outs?

That could be the most-likely scenario and making Cooper the odd-man out.

One thing to consider is Avant's age.  At 29-years old could he be running low on fuel in the minds of the Eagles brass?  Maybe they look at McNutt as a younger version of Avant.

The Eagles didn't take a wide-out early in the draft this season, suggesting that they like Cooper, Avant and Hall as the back-ups, but maybe McNutt's size and potential was just to much for them to pass on.