Jason Avant: Breakout Candidate in 2009?

Pat Kirwan of NFL.com recently did a piece on 10 wide receivers who are poised to make a Steve Breaston-like leap forward in the upcoming season. He puts Eagles wideout Jason Avant at #3 and has some flattering words for the youngster.

3. Jason Avant, Philadelphia Eagles: Unless you talk with an Eagles coach or Donovan McNabb, you might not realize how much this franchise likes Avant. One Eagles executive called him the best slot receiver in the NFL. With all of the attention focused on DeSean Jackson and rookie Jeremy Maclin, Avant should have a very productive year. He has improved his receptions totals in each of his three NFL seasons, from 7 to 23 to 32 last year.

Certainly seems that Avant will have an opportunity to increase his production out of the slot once again this year. The other Eagle wideouts, Kevin Curtis, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Reggie Brown, and Hank Baskett, mostly play on the outside. Not saying that they could not handle a transition into the slot, but it is more likely that they rotate on the outside and leave the bulk of the slot duty to Avant.

Kirwan broke down his rankings by projected receptions in 2009. The first five guys on the list (including Avant at #3) are projected to catch 60-80 balls next year. After hauling in 32 last year and examining the quantity of weapons on this offense, there is just no way that Avant gets near 80 catches this year. I can maybe see him continue his trend upward to the tune of say, 50 catches. Even that may be stretching it a bit.

All things considered though, Avant is a quality player who has solid hands and strong route running ability. He is not afraid to make the tough catch over the middle and is a hard man to cover on third downs. I’m excited to see him continue to improve, and maybe prove the Eagles right in their thinking that he is one of the best slot receivers in the game.

Check out great catches from Avant here and here.

Tags: DeSean Jackson, Hank Baskett, Jason Avant, Jeremy Maclin, Kevin Curtis, NFL, Philadelphia Eagles, Reggie Brown