The Eagles have played just one game so far this season but the plan for DeVonta Smith in 2024 is already coming into focus.
He’s going to play a ton in the slot.
Based on Smith’s usage this summer, that’s not a surprise. But in Smith’s first game in offensive coordinator Kellen Moore’s offense, he played a career-high in snaps in the slot.
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What makes Smith so good inside?
“Yeah, I think he just does an excellent job,” Moore said. “He's got great spatial awareness, great feel for the game. I think when you play inside as a receiver, there's a lot more variables. There's a nickel on top of you, but there's a safety, there's backers. You've got to have the awareness to kind of see -- have great spatial awareness to recognize all those aspects and see how those moving pieces change the picture for you. So I think he did an excellent job finding space in the zone a couple times.
“He had the critical 4th-and-3, big time play where he saw one defender outside of him and one defender inside of him, he tight turned it, hooked it up, Jalen (Hurts) saw him. Those are big time plays. Those aren't easy to see that spatially in that quick instance. He'll continue to play outside in different roles and different situations, and we'll move those guys around. A.J. (Brown) will be in there some. That's the beauty of what we have at the receiver group is those guys can play all over the field."
Against the Packers, Smith played 76 total snaps on offense and 41 of them (53.9%) came in the slot. Not only is that the most snaps he’s ever played inside in his career, but that percentage is way higher than his slot percentage in his career.
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Here’s a look at Smith’s slot snaps in the first three years of his career, per ProFootballFocus:
2024: 41/76 (53.9%)
2023: 273/1,100 snaps (24.8%)
2022: 270/1,288 snaps (21.0%)
2021: 105/982 snaps (10.7%)
“I think it just depends on the game plan, it depends on who we’re playing,” Smith said about playing the slot before Week 1. “Ultimately, it’s up to the coaches. Kind of won’t know until the game plan comes out.”
Even before we saw the Eagles practice this summer, it was theorized that Smith would play a bunch inside in 2024. Aside from his clear abilities to thrive in the slot, Moore has a history of playing some of his top receivers in there.
Think back to CeeDee Lamb in Dallas and Keenan Allen with the Chargers. Moore has gotten a ton of production from his best receivers playing inside.
That isn’t going to change in 2024.
“I’ll be anywhere,” Smith said. “It doesn’t matter to me.”
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