Meritocracy Vs. Mulligan For Eagles' Second-Year Player

There was quite a bit of hype surrounding then-rookie receiver Ainias Smith last season, at least when measured with the average Day 3 draft pick. 

That’s because the Missouri City, Texas native was quite the unique playmaker at Texas A&M with experience as a receiver, running back, and returner en route to 25 career touchdowns with the Aggies.

A stress fracture in Smith’s shin, discovered at the combine, may have hurt his draft status before he went No. 152 overall to the Eagles in the fifth round, and it certainly hampered his onboarding process in Philadelphia.

Smith, 24, wasn’t cleared until late in mandatory minicamp and began to drop the football as the spring turned toward summer, when his confidence seemed to wane, especially after now-departed safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson publicly amplified his thoughts on Smith to everyone in attendance at practice one day.

If football were a true meritocracy, Smith wouldn’t have made the club last season, but GM Howie Roseman wasn’t about to just cut bait on a kid with talent before a mulligan was proffered.

That came in the form of stashing Smith on injured reserve to start the regular season before activating him on Oct. 26.

The final tally for Smith as a rookie was one start in seven games, which was the regular-season finale against the New York Giants when all the team’s key players were being rested, and seven receptions for 41 yards and a touchdown. Of Smith’s 96 snaps from scrimmage, 47 of them came against the NYG in Week 18, and he was inactive for all four postseason games.

Smith’s deference as a college star and draft pick has expired, and presumably, the now second-year player will have to earn a roster spot this summer.

In the race to back up star WRs A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, Smith is facing an uphill battle.

As a pure receiver based on spring work, free agent-pickup Terrace Marshall Jr. has passed Smith, and 2024 practice-squad player Danny Gray outplayed him while the coaching staff seems to value fellow second-year player Johnny Wilson’s blocking acumen in what is a run-first offense.

The path to the roster for Smith is a callback to his A&M days as a moving piece.

If Smith can outplay Avery Williams, who missed the spring with an unknown injury, as both a punt returner and a manufactured touch option, while also showing competency and consistency catching the football, he’s got a chance to surpass the others by being able to handle multiple roles. 

If not it's the practice squad or a second chance in another city.