Johnny Wilson’s march toward 1st-team reps began in the offseason originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
In recent days, Eagles sixth-round pick Johnny Wilson has been getting more and more first-team reps.
That process really started during the offseason.
Wilson was one of several players who traveled to work out with Jalen Hurts during the Eagles’ off time and the rapport they built is now carrying over into Wilson’s first training camp in the NFL.
“It’s been great,” Wilson said. “Put in some work in the offseason with Jalen, some of the other guys, just building up those reps and that connection with everybody, just the whole depth chart of receivers. It’s been great getting some of those first-team reps and just trying to keep building day in and day out.”
On Sunday, the Eagles were without Parris Campbell (groin) and it was Wilson on the field with the Eagles’ starters in 11 personnel, along with stars A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
As the search for WR3 continues, Wilson is now firmly in the mix.
It can be difficult for a rookie receiver, especially a Day 3 rookie, to contribute, but Wilson has been impressing his coaches and teammates throughout the first couple weeks of camp. The Florida State product is off to a good start in his NFL career.
One guy Wilson has really impressed is Hurts and that started when they worked out together between minicamp and training camp.
“The goal is to put the work in,” Hurts said last week about his offseason. “You want to put the work in and have confidence in the work. I’ll give you an example of that and how that showed up. We did 1-on-1s the other day and Johnny Wilson shows up and makes two big-time catches. But I tell him it’s no surprise when you prepare for those situations or you put the time in like that in the offseason and you spend that quality time together. It shows.”
Wilson was one of several skill players to spend time with Hurts this offseason but he found their time together especially helpful. Wilson said there’s a trust in his connection with Hurts.
How do you earn a quarterback’s trust?
“Shoot, you just be friendly with a quarterback,” Wilson explained. “When he throws the ball, the ball’s in the air, just try to be your quarterback’s best friend at the end of the day.”
Earning Hurts’ trust will be imperative for any receiver not named A.J. Brown or DeVonta Smith or Dallas Goedert in this offense. The Eagles’ passing game is once again going to run through those three. So any other skill guys who see the field are going to have to fight for scraps and they’re not going to get any passes their way if Hurts doesn’t trust them.
So far this summer, Wilson is looking like someone to trust.
“He’s a big guy, has a huge catch radius,” Smith said. “He’s young but he’s learning fast.”
At 6-foot-6, 228 pounds, Wilson is hard to miss on the field but he’s already shown an understanding of how to use his unique frame and better movement skills than you’d expect for someone of his size.
Having a coach like Aaron Moorhead — a former NFL receiver who played with a bigger frame — is pretty helpful too. Moorehead even admitted that it’s more natural for him to coach a guy like Wilson than it is a smaller receiver.
At Florida State, Wilson was the Seminoles’ X receiver and mostly played on the outside. But, still, 19.4% of his snaps in college came in the slot, according to ProFootballFocus. And Wilson has looked smooth both inside and out this summer, which is important because offensive coordinator Kellen Moore likes to move his receivers around.
“Honestly, I’ve done both since I was in high school,” Wilson said. “I played inside and outside, just being able to be available wherever they want to put me. I just put in the time. I just keep on putting in the time and the work. So wherever they need me to go at, I can be available and be the best at my job.”
On the outside, Wilson can use his frame to win jump balls and he’s shown an ability to do that. Even though he wasn’t able to haul in the catch, the Eagles showed some faith in him at the public practice to throw him a fade in the end zone.
And when Wilson is in the slot, it’s his chance to use his size advantage against smaller defenders.
“I mean, definitely,” he said. “A lot of nickel corners and nickel safeties, they’re used to playing a lot smaller guys. A lot more shiftier, quicker guys. But I feel like I can offer a little bit of both: Size, speed and quickness. I definitely think I can be a problem on the inside. I just try to take advantage of every opportunity I get.”
Through seven practices this summer, we’ve seen plenty of players rotate in with the first-team offense as the WR3. Training camp started with Campbell but we’ve also seen John Ross and Britain Covey and now Wilson.
There’s a chance the Eagles will end up adding more at the receiver position but even if they do, Wilson has been turning some heads this summer. And he might be earning some playing time in the process.
At least one thing is for sure: He looks like he belongs.
“I definitely feel like now I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with the offense,” he said. “It’s just the timing and pace of things. Definitely in the beginning it was kind of like, ‘Holy crap.’ Everything is just moving so fast. But having guys like Jalen, A.J., DeVonta, Parris, all the dudes in the room, you’ve got these dudes that are always helping. It’s made it a lot easier, this transition a lot easier.”
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