The biggest jump for most players is from Year 1 to Year 2. Rookies have to adjust to a whole new life, on and off the field. In the second year, the player has some security off the field, knows the playbook and has a feel for pro football. He can then concentrate on honing his craft.

Jordan Matthews exploded onto the scene as a rookie. Josh Huff had much more of a typical rookie season. He flashed ability, but also made mistakes and looked…like a rookie.

Matthews might be the key to the Eagles passing game heading into 2015. Huff is hoping to earn a starting role or at least become a productive part of the offense.

There isn’t just blind optimism in regard to Huff. He is actually trying to do something about the situation. Tim McManus wrote about Huff and his efforts to be a more polished receiver. We won’t know if Huff is truly better until the season, but there is some reason for hope.

Huff had some good moments in minicamp and Chip Kelly had plenty of good things to say.

“I think he’s just more mature in terms of – he’s more comfortable; I shouldn’t say ‘mature’. I think he’s a mature young man to begin with. I think he’s just more comfortable in terms of all the things going on around him,” said Kelly.

“You see him helping out Nelson [Agholor] and some of the undrafted guys we brought in here. I think he’s done a real good job from that standpoint. I think he’s carrying himself in a different manner now just because I think he’s a year older.”

“I think he’s made great progress,” said Kelly. “The biggest thing with Josh is just consistency. I think it is for most guys. When you come in as a first year player, he was obviously set back a little bit because of his injury, and then missing the first portion of the season, but then just flashed at times. Has a kickoff return for a touchdown, which was a heck of a return. Just a more consistent basis in terms of his performance out there. I think he’s really been a lot more consistent, and that’s what we’ve been trying to work on with him.”

You can see a bit of Huff in action here.

Huff needs to step up to help the Eagles replace Jeremy Maclin. Give Huff an A for effort so far, but the NFL is all about results. He’ll need to start producing when Training Camp gets underway here in a couple of weeks.

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Emmitt Smith and LaDainian Tomlinson have both come out and said that DeMarco Murray left yards on the field last year. ESPN’s Ed Werder made a great point about that.

Lot of respect for @EmmittSmith22 and @LT_21. Both say @DeMarcoMurray left yards on field while gaining 1,845 _ more than either of them. — Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) July 22, 2015

Those guys are picking on a player who just did better in one season than they ever did. How funny is that?

And I think plenty of Eagles fans would tell you that LeSean McCoy left yards on the field as well. All RBs do. Part of playing the position.

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