Wide Receiver Comparison

This offseason, five big-name wide receivers were the subject of intense speculation as to where they would end up this season: Javon Walker (Green Bay to Denver), Ashley Lelie (Denver to Atlanta), Donte Stallworth (New Orleans to Philadelphia), Jerry Porter (still in Oakland) and Deion Branch (still in New England, for now).  Throughout this offseason, the majority of Iggles fans were convinced the team should do whatever it had to in order to grab one of these guys. 

The Eagles waited ... and waited ... and finally ended up with Stallworth.  So let's look at the stats for those five guys and see how they did:

For comparison, I've taken each receiver's best season.  It's clear there are three separate tiers here.  Branch, Stallworth and Porter are all very different kinds of receivers, but their numbers are pretty similar.  Lelie is a cut below.  He's truly just a speedy deep threat, rather than a complete receiver. 

Walker -- if he comes back healthy -- is on a whole different level.  He's really, really good.  So far this preseason, he also seems to be returning to his old form.  The Eagles tried to get him during the draft, but unfortunately the Broncos had a higher second-round draft pick available, so they lost that auction. 

Considering that the Patriots want two first-round picks for Branch {chortle} and Porter is a mini-TO when it comes to his attitude, I think the Eagles did juuuuust fine.