There's been much ado regarding A.J. Brown joining good friend Jalen Hurts on the Philadelphia Eagles, but Brown is also joining second-year wide receiver DeVonta Smith for what portends to be a dynamic duo in Philly.
Smith, a Heisman Trophy winner at Alabama, is coming off an impressive rookie season with the Eagles in which he reset the franchise's rookie receiving yards record, but he knows there's ample room for improvement and learning from his new teammate is great way to do just that.
“I’m excited, just to learn from a guy like him," Smith said Wednesday. "Anytime you play football, you watch all the different receivers, just seeing what everybody has in their toolbox. So him being here, just being able to learn from him [is helpful].”
At 6-foot, 170 pounds, Smith is a long and lanky target, while Brown is a 6-foot-1, 226-pound presence whose physicality is one of his most celebrated assets. The difference in their physical make-ups makes it unlikely Smith will learn how to emulate Brown's style, but there's plenty to take from the fourth-year wideout's all-around game.
“It gives the offense a different dynamic, but at the end of the day, as a receiver you have to use your hands and things like that," Smith said. "With him being a bigger guy, he’s going to be more physical. You take things like that from him of how he uses his hands, cause, still at the end of the day, I’m a smaller guy, but I still have to use my hands when I release. So you take things like that from a guy like him, somebody you know, you’re gonna use that and what they do.”
Smith and Brown don't know each other well, but that's likely to change soon over the course of workouts, minicamps and training camp.
On paper, they give Hurts a sensational 1-2 receiving punch.
Last year, Smith led the Eagles in receptions (64), yards (916) and touchdown catches (five), while Brown fell short of his third straight 1,000-yard season as a Tennessee Titan because he was limited to 13 games due to injury. Still, Brown tallied 869 yards and five touchdowns on 63 receptions.
“I didn’t know him that much, I just knew him and Jalen were good friends,” Smith said. “Just hearing that trade, it was big.”
How much Smith can learn from Brown and how big the Smith-Brown combo can be remains to be seen, but there's plenty of reason for excitement in Philadelphia.