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DeVonta Smith Poised to Take Over as the Alpha Wide Receiver in Philadelphia

Philadelphia Eagles former first-round pick in 2021 DeVonta Smith posted a solid line in 2025, with 113 targets, hauling in 77 of them for 1,008 yards in 2025, with four TDs. In his previous three seasons, he had seven or more touchdowns, and fantasy managers should buy into him this season; let's dive into why below.

Smith is coming off his worst season since his rookie year in fantasy points per game (11.9), and most of it had to do with his TD regression and the Eagles' offense struggling under former offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. However, with the departure of A.J. Brown and his seven touchdowns, 1,003 receiving yards, 78 receptions, and 29.5 percent target share, the window is wide open for Smith, who is now 27.7 years old, to take over as the alpha receiver for the Eagles.

The Eagles made a few offseason moves in the wide receiver room, but none of them suggested it was a true threat to Smith being viewed as the alpha in the room. They drafted rookie receiver Makai Lemon out of USC 20th overall, who will most likely take over in the second half of the season as the primary Z receiver, traded for Dontayvion Wicks, and signed Marquise "Hollywood" Brown in free agency. To put those signings into perspective (Brown and Wicks), those two signings combined for 909 yards and 79 receptions. Combine that with Lemon likely getting eased in early in the season; all of this suggests the Eagles are comfortable setting up Smith to run as the primary X receiver, where he will often face one-on-one matchups, and most importantly, should see his opportunities and target share increase significantly.

As referenced above, the Eagles moved on from Patullo, who struggled significantly as their offensive coordinator, and brought in Sean Mannion, who was the Packers' quarterbacks coach and offensive assistant over the past few seasons and has been credited with developing Jordan Love and Malik Willis. He enabled Christian Watson, whom I discussed in a previous article, to generate big plays consistently and win deep. Mannion's signing should bode well for the Eagles' offense, which should return to a strong play-action scheme and set up a big season for all offensive players, most importantly Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, and Smith.

Under the hood, Smith is an efficient receiver; he was 22nd in yards per route run (1.98), 34th in first downs per route run, 21st in yards per target (8.9), and 22nd in explosive rating (109.6). In the 2024-2025 season, when the Eagles won the Super Bowl, Smith was 14th in first downs per route run, 20th in yards per route run, 20th in separation, 11th in explosive rating, and eighth in dominator rating. The offense as a whole was much more efficient in 2024, and Smith was one of the biggest beneficiaries; I expect this season to align more similarly to the 2024-2025 season than last season. 

Because of this, the fantasy community has seen Smith's value skyrocket up draft boards, as he's now up to WR13 overall and going in the early to mid-third round of drafts, which is where I personally rank him and have for the past few weeks, even dating back to when he was ranked closer to WR17. The Lab WR rankings agree with me, as he is ranked WR14.

If your draft is setting up to the point where you are looking to grab your first or second receiver, Smith is one of the better picks in the third round. He has a very safe floor because his opportunity share should increase with AJB's departure, but also has the upside of a low-end WR1 with 1,200 receiving yards and eight-plus touchdowns. I would draft him over guys like Tee Higgins, Tet McMillan, Garrett Wilson, and Ladd McConkey.

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