Olamide Zaccheaus did some nice things in the two games Quez Watkins missed with a hamstring injury, so it was fair to wonder what the snap distribution would look like when Watkins returned.
On Sunday against the Rams, it looked a lot like it did in Week 1.
A lot of snaps for Watkins, not many for Zaccheaus.
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“That was our plan,” head coach Nick Sirianni said on Monday. “OZ has done a nice job, he really has, and he does some things really well. And one thing with Quez is sometimes Quez's abilities aren't always shown. Like Quez has to share the ball with a lot of guys, and so you're not going to see — like what Quez did in 2021, you might not see as much because we have A.J. (Brown) and we have DeVonta (Smith) and we have Dallas (Goedert) and we have D’Andre (Swift), all these different targets.
“But what is unknown about Quez, what can't ever show up on a stat sheet with Quez, is his ability to stretch the field. His speed is real. And so, there's a lot of things that happen where maybe it's a slant that A.J. catches where Quez clears the middle to make it a cleaner throw. So Quez's speed brings a real factor.”
In Sunday’s 23-14 win over the Rams, Watkins played 52 snaps, while Zaccheaus played played just nine. In Week 1 and Week 5, when both players have been healthy, Watkins has out-snapped Zaccheaus 104-16.
In the two games without Watkins, who was out with a hamstring, Zaccheaus became the Eagles’ full-time slot receiver. He played 44 snaps against the Buccaneers and 61 against the Commanders. In those two games, Zaccheaus had 3 catches for 69 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown catch on an off-schedule pass from Jalen Hurts against the Bucs.
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Here’s a look at the production from Watkins and Zaccheaus in 2023:
Watkins: 115 snaps, 5 targets, 4 catches, 21 yards
Zaccheaus: 156 snaps, 5 targets, 3 catches, 69 yards, 1 TD
On Sunday against the Rams, Watkins had 2 catches for 4 yards, including a play on a 3rd-and-2 where he lost a yard despite having blocks in front of him. It was a play that Sirianni was visibly upset about on the sideline.
While it might not have made a ton of sense to force the ball to Watkins in a key moment in the red zone, it’s a play he just has to make. He simply has to pick up the first down.
It’s fair to wonder if Zaccheaus simply wouldn’t be the better and more reliable option at this point. But Sirianni’s argument is that Watkins is making an impact on games even when he’s not being targeted.
The Eagles acquired Zaccheaus in free agency after he spent the first four years of his career with the Falcons. In 2022, he had the best season of his career with 40 catches for 533 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Watkins has been with the Eagles since 2020, when they drafted him out of Southern Mississippi with a sixth-round pick. He has already far exceeded his draft status. In 2021, when he was the No. 2 receiver, Watkins had 43 catches for 647 yards and a touchdown. But in 2022, Watkins had a disappointing season that was capped off by a drop in the Super Bowl.
During OTAs, Sirianni publicly backed Watkins and talked about how great of a spring Watkins was having. That hasn’t translated into production this season. Even if you acknowledge that Watkins isn’t going to get a ton of targets, he has to start capitalizing on the ones he does get.
According to Sirianni, the reason we’re seeing Watkins get so much time is because of the threat of his speed. For now, that seems like enough to keep his role.
“We were comfortable with the way that looked and I'm still comfortable with the way that looked of our snap counts yesterday,” Sirianni said on Monday. “That's a game-by-game decision. Again, very pleased with OZ and the things that he can do. And obviously like I said, Quez's speed is something, that the defenses have to account for, and I'm sure glad we have him back playing football.”
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