Eagles Still Own Best 1-2 Receiver Punch At Receiver In NFC East

George Pickens is joining the NFC East after the Pittsburgh Steelers traded their second-round pick from just three years ago to the Dallas Cowboys earlier in the week.

Until Pickens proves he can be a team player, something he struggled with in Pittsburgh, and a reason the Steelers had no trouble dealing him for a pair of draft picks next year (a third and a fifth), the Eagles receiver tandem is still far and away at the top of the division.

Here's a closer look at each NFC East team's top two outside receivers and their nu,bers over the past three seasons:

EAGLES. A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith have played in two Super Bowls and have won one. They complement each other extremely well - Brown is a big, physical playmaker, and Smith is an acrobat whose pinpoint route running typically allows him to get open with ease.

Brown is on a Hall of Fame trajectory. Smith, who is just 26, might be headed in that direction, too. Since they became teammates three years ago, their numbers look like this:

Brown: 47 games, 261 catches, 4,031 yards, 25 touchdowns.

Smith: 46 games, 244 catches, 3,095 yards, 22 touchdowns.

No other team in the NFC East has two receivers with those kinds of numbers.

COWBOYS. Dallas earns the second-best ranking in the division with CeeDee Lamb and now Pickens. Lamb has been phenomenal in his five seasons. Pickens is a tremendous talent but sometimes disappears for lengthy stretches during games. Also, can he temper his ego in an offense where Lamb will be the lead dog?

Their three-year numbers look like this:

Lamb: 49 games, 343 catches, 4,302 yards, 27 touchdowns.

He has been the focal point of Dallas’ offense, so his numbers are great. Perhaps Hall of Fame worthy, someday. Will Pickens eat into them this season?

Pickens: 48 games, 174 catches, 2,841 yards, 12 touchdowns. These numbers are well below both Brown and Smith and Pickens has played in more games over three seasons.

GIANTS. New York gets the third spot because, frankly, the Commanders don’t have a reliable No. 2, and because of the brilliance of Malik Nabers, who deserved more buzz for offensive rookie of the year last season when he had 109 catches for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns. There is no three-year window to examine for Nabers, but the Giants’ No. 2 does - Sterling Shepard. Wan’Dale Robinson does, too, but Robinson, who is just 5-8, 185, works in the slot, so he doesn’t count in this argument.

Shepard: 32 games, 55 catches, 545 yards, three touchdowns.

COMMANDERS. Washington has one of the game’s best in Terry McLaurin. After him, though, it’s Noah Brown, Luke McCaffrey, or K.J. Osborne. Are any of them a worthy No. 2? For the sake of this exercise, Deebo Samuel gets the No. 2 nod. The guess here is OC Kliff Kingsbury will use him on the outside more often than not.

McLaurin: 51 games, 238 catches, 3,289 yards, 22 touchdowns. The only time he didn’t op 1,000 yards was his rookie season in 2019, and he hasn’t missed a game in five straight seasons.

Samuel: 43 games, 167 catches, 2,194 yards, 22 touchdowns. He has had only one 1,000-yard receiving season, and, as these numbers point out, is probably overrated. And he’s already 29.