It was a surprise when the Philadelphia Eagles were unable to keep steady veteran and de facto No. 1 wide receiver Jeremy Maclin from leaving the team via the NFL free agency period this offseason.
Upon seeing the figures on Maclin's new deal with the Kansas City Chiefs - it averages about $11 million per season - the decision by Eagles head coach Chip Kelly to allow the high-quality, high-character wideout to depart suddenly made quite a bit more sense.
Would Kelly trust a rookie receiver to come in and potentially fill the hole left by the veteran Maclin's departure?
According to a report from Kevin O'Donnell of FOX13 in Tampa, Kelly traveled to Florida Thursday to work out former USC wide receiver and projected second-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, Nelson Agholor.
"Intelligent, instinctive receiver with an advanced feel for getting himself open against zone coverage and off man," reads NFL.com's Lance Zierlein's draft profile of Agholor. "Play speed doesn't match timed speed. Needs to force cornerbacks to respect him over the top. Agholor's best position could be working from the slot as a reliable possession receiver who can step right into the punt-returner job on Day 1."
Kelly has done little to attempt to fill Maclin's spot in the lineup this offseason - the recent signing of Miles Austin seems little more than an addition of established veteran depth as a fallback option should youngsters Jordan Matthews and Josh Huff fail to develop as expected in Year 2.
Kelly indicated that he may look to the 2015 NFL Draft as the main means through which the team would attempt to add an influx of talent at the receiver position while at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix last week.
"I think it's a talented draft class," Kelly said at the time, according to Phil Sheridan of ESPN. "We're still kind of putting that all together, but it's another year where there are some really good receivers in the draft. I think probably the one position in the draft that has the most depth in the draft is wide receiver."
The 6-foot, 185-pound Agholor finished last season for the Trojans with 104 receptions, 1,313 yards and 12 touchdowns. He added 197 yards and two touchdowns on 20 punt returns and 147 yards on nine kick returns.
Kelly, a coach known to love intelligent, versatile and high-character players, may see a bright NFL future for Agholor, perhaps playing alongside Matthews and Huff in midnight green.
