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Brown soaring in T.O.'s absence
Associated Press
Philadelphia Eagles receiver Reggie Brown is lifted by teammate Hank Baskett (84) after Brown caught a 40-yard pass for a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth quarter of their football game Sunday, Oct. 8, 2006, in Philadelphia.
Given the questions surrounding the combustible Terrell Owens and the fact that they didn’t really have another legitimate starting receiver on their roster in the spring of 2005, the Philadelphia Eagles shrewdly selected talented Georgia Bulldogs receiver Reggie Brown in the second round of the NFL draft that April to bolster their receiving corps.
Brown paid the Eagles’ immediate dividends as he caught 34 passes for 463 yards and four touchdowns over the team’s final nine games after Owens was suspended for the rest of the season prior to Week 9. His 43 total receptions set an Eagles rookie record and set the stage for what looks to be a breakout sophomore season in 2006.
Brown started this season off rather slowly with just three catches for 43 yards in his first two games, although two of those receptions went for touchdowns. Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb seemed infatuated with newcomer Donte’ Stallworth those first two weeks, but when a hamstring injury forced Stallworth to sit out in Week 3, Brown became McNabb’s new preferred target and hauled in five passes for 106 yards.
With Stallworth also missing the past two games with hamstring problems, Brown is quickly emerging as the team’s No. 1 receiver. He caught four balls for 79 yards and a touchdown in a big win over Dallas in Week 5 and reeled in six passes for 121 yards, including a brilliant 60-yard TD catch and run, in Sunday’s loss at New Orleans. Brown also added a 15-yard rushing touchdown against the Saints and has found the end zone five times in six games this season.
"I’m just getting more opportunities, and I’m just trying to make the best of it,’’ Brown told the Allentown Morning Call. "It is my second year, and I am a little bit more confident and comfortable in the offense, which allows me to go out there and make plays and have fun with it.’’
Brown entered the NFL considered by some as nothing more than a possession receiver – a tag he’s shredding this season by averaging 19.6 yards per reception – and also had the dreaded "injury-prone" label attached to him after suffering a torn ACL in his right knee (2001) and being dogged at times by hamstring problems during his collegiate days at Georgia. Brown didn’t become a full-time starter in college until his junior season of 2003, when he led the Bulldogs in receiving with 49 receptions for 662 yards and three touchdowns. He was even better as a senior in 2004, grabbing 53 passes for 860 yards and six TDs while teaming with Fred Gibson (49 catches, 801 yards, seven TDs) to form one of the top receiving tandems in the nation.
The improvement Brown showed during his senior season with the Bulldogs caused his draft stock to rise significantly. The Eagles felt he had the potential to be no worse than a No. 2 receiver in the NFL and used the pick they acquired from the Dolphins in the A.J. Feely trade to select him 35th overall. Brown’s success during the second half of last season is even more impressive when you consider he was primarily catching passes from the erratic likes of Mike McMahon and Koy Detmer instead of the All-Pro McNabb, who didn’t play in the final seven games after undergoing hernia surgery.
With McNabb healthy and looking like perhaps the best quarterback in football this season, Brown could easily rack up 1,200 receiving yards and score 10-12 touchdowns in his second NFL campaign. There’s a chance that Stallworth will return this weekend against the Buccaneers, and Brown’s owners will feel much more comfortable if their guy can post a couple of big games with Stallworth in the lineup. Thus far his three best games have come with Stallworth in street clothes, but Brown has undoubtedly earned McNabb’s confidence in recent weeks, and the Eagles still pass the ball far more frequently than they run it. Brown is not a sell-high candidate since he really is this good. If you own him, expect the production to continue.
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