Garry Cobb Believes AJ Brown Will Thrive in Shanahan-Style Offense

A Former Player Sees the Fit

Garry Cobb played a decade in the NFL and has covered the Eagles for Fox 29 for years. So when he says the Shanahan-style offense Sean Mannion is bringing to Philadelphia could transform the passing game, it carries weight. Cobb sees a direct parallel between what the Rams have done with their physical receivers and what the Eagles could do with AJ Brown — if he's still here to run it.

The core of Cobb's argument: the Rams and 49ers don't play dink-and-dunk. They attack downfield, they work the seams, and they use big physical receivers in ways the Eagles haven't attempted in years. Puka Nacua catches the ball in traffic, takes hits, and keeps moving. AJ Brown has the same physical profile and skillset — he just hasn't been used that way in Philadelphia.

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The Slot Question

One of the most intriguing possibilities Cobb raised is AJ Brown working from the slot. Brown's pre-draft scouting report noted he "faces limited press from the slot" and the Eagles have never consistently put him there. But in a Shanahan system, the slot isn't a secondary position — it's where the offense attacks the seams and creates mismatches against linebackers and safeties.

If Mannion can put Brown in the slot the way the Rams use Nacua, it changes the entire geometry of the passing game. Defenses can't bracket Brown on the outside if he's lining up in three different spots. That versatility is what separates good passing offenses from great ones.

The Tucker Craft Connection

Cobb also pointed to Mannion's work with Tucker Craft in Green Bay as a template for what the tight end position could look like. Craft was a primary target working across the middle — exactly the kind of usage the Eagles have never gotten from Dallas Goedert or any tight end in recent memory. If Mannion brings that same middle-of-field aggression, it opens up everything.

The draft could factor in here too. A tight end like Terrance Ferguson from Oregon in the middle rounds could give Mannion a young, athletic option to develop in the system — someone who can threaten the seams the way Craft did before his injury.

The Elephant in the Room

All of this analysis comes with a massive caveat: can Jalen Hurts execute it? Cobb believes he can, but acknowledged it's the key question mark. The Rams system works because Matthew Stafford processes defenses quickly and delivers the ball on time. Hurts has historically struggled with both. A one-two-three, ball-out rhythm is the foundation of everything Mannion wants to do. If Hurts can't get there, the system is theoretical no matter how good the scheme looks on paper.

2026 will answer the question definitively. Either Hurts adapts to a more aggressive passing scheme and the Eagles offense takes a leap, or the same limitations that have plagued him since his draft profile follow him into another season.