Presence Of High School Friend May Have Ignited Big Day For Eagles' No. 46

He flew across the middle, his number 46 a blur. Not that there had been much reason to see who wore No. 46 until Tuesday, when the Eagles held their one-day minicamp, and not until No. 46 sliced through the middle of the first-team defense and left Cooper DeJean a bit flat-footed.

A quick check of the roster showed it was Terrace Marshall wearing No. 46. It’s not exactly a receiver’s number and isn’t what Marshall wore for three seasons with the Carolina Panthers, who picked him in the second round of the 2021 draft, the 59th player taken overall, when he wore No. 88. He was No. 80 last year, his only season with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Jalen Hurts saw the separation from DeJean and hit Marshall in stride. The receiver then found another gear and accelerated for a big gain.

Marshall opened some eyes on the final day of spring work, and it was a high-volume receiving day for him. It now feels like the Eagles are OK at the receiver position with him being a good depth option behind the dynamic duo of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and probable third receiver Jahan Dotson.

The Eagles signed Marshall on April 11, just days before the first workout of spring. Was his best day a culmination of being a part of all three phases of the Eagles’ spring workout or something else?

Smith may have been that something else. He and Marshall are good friends, going back to high school in Louisiana.

“I’ve been with Terrace for a while,” said Smith. “We played on the same 7-on-7 team in high school, so I’ve known him since then. It’s been great. Any time you can get a Louisiana guy up here I’m all for it, and being somebody I’ve known since high school, looking forward to playing with him and glad he’s here.”

Smith expounded on what Marshall brings to the receiver room.

“Big frame guy, has strong hands, gives you versatility in the room,” he said. “We have smaller guys like me, Jahan (Dotson), Ainias (Smith), then you have the bigger guys – A.J. (Brown), Terrace, Johnny (Wilson), so just the versatility in the room.”