Philadelphia Eagles first-round pick Nelson Agholor wants to make sure he’s at the team facility and prepared to impress Chip Kelly during his first organized activities as a member of the team.
According to fellow Eagles wide receiver Jordan Matthews, the first-year player from Southern California is bypassing the rookie shuttle to practice, instead opting to take a taxi to the team facility.
“You hear a lot of great things, but then we you actually get him on the field and see what type of guy he is, you’re like OK this kid gets it,” Matthews told Howard Eskin on the 94WIP Morning Show in Philly on Tuesday. “Instead of taking the regular rookie shuttle, he takes a taxi to get here early to the facility. That’s a kid that gets it.”
The reasoning behind this is simple. It appears that Agholor wants to arrive at the facility extra early in order to get some work in. That type of dedication will quickly get noticed by the coaching staff in Philadelphia.
Continuing his high praise of the young pass catcher, Matthews elaborated further:
“He’s been really aggressive with his studies. He’s always hitting me up, if he needs like signals. If he needs information, he calls me whenever and then we’re able to talk over it. And we haven’t even gotten to how he is on the field. This kid is explosive.”
Let’s hope for the Eagles’ sake that Agholor’s work ethic translates to production on the football field as a rookie. The team lost Jeremy Maclin in free agency, and really has only one starter-caliber receiver in the aforementioned Jordan Matthews on the roster. In order for new starting quarterback Sam Bradford to succeed, he must get production from the first-year receiver.
Agholor recorded a whopping 104 receptions for over 1,300 yards and 12 scores with the Trojans last season. If he’s able to even provide a little over half of that production as a rookie, the Eagles will be happy.
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