The timeline may be off here, but the first time we heard the phrase ‘Smitty catches everything’ was likely around the time he was still in Tuscaloosa. No one knew that DeVonta Smith would join the Philadelphia Eagles at the time. We just knew he was pretty doggone special.
Think about it. He was a true freshman, and during a College Football Playoff National Championship Game, he was the target during a second-and-26 scenario. It was overtime. The game was on the line, and Tua Tagovailoa had taken over for an ineffective Jalen Hurts.
Tagovailoa had taken a massive loss by way of a sack one play earlier. He could have gone to anyone to dig the Alabama Crimson Tide out of a huge, huge hole. They picked the guy in the Number 6 jersey. Fast forward to the present, and ‘Smitty’, as he’s still affectionately known, is still making huge plays. But he wants more.
The Jalen Hurts-DeVonta Smith connection has been must-see television since the latter was drafted in 2021. If you remember, in Week 1 of that year’s regular season, Hurts’ first toss to Number 6 went for six points. Smith has caught 29 more TDs since then, including three this season.
His most recent was the lone score in what was, believe it or not, an exciting 10-7 game vs. the Green Bay Packers. Smith’s reception was the only TD reception of what turned out to be a defensive tussle. Everyone wanted a piece of Philly’s star after that, from the local media to ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt.
“If you ain’t got no haters you ain’t doing something right.”
DeVonta Smith tells @notthefakeSVP that the Eagles aren’t worried about the outside noise 🤫🦅 pic.twitter.com/nOcVwdQzUI
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 11, 2025
DeVonta Smith: “Offensively, we don’t feel good at all. Offensively, we need to be better. The defense is playing their ass off. We need to help those guys out. We need to be better. That’s gonna come. You have your up and down. We have good weeks, we have bad weeks, and this…
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) November 11, 2025
Pay very close attention to what was said there in Zach Berman’s transcription. “Offensively, we don’t feel good at all. Offensively, we need to be better. The defense is playing their ass off. We need to help those guys out.”
Now, here’s what’s funny and respectable. No one would blame Smith for any of the Eagles’ offensive issues. No one would identify him as being the problem. Still, he has adopted a leader’s mindset, even if he doesn’t want to wear a captain’s patch. His attitude is, ‘If one of us fails, we all fail.’
On the one hand, that should resonate with everyone who continues to push the narrative that this is a team often divided. On the other hand, this has to get figured out, and immediately. This team has too much offensive firepower to perform as it has.
It’s been too challenging to get A.J. Brown the ball. Philadelphia has the highest percentage of three-and-outs of the NFL’s 32 teams, and there’s no excuse for that.
The pieces are in place. Most have played together for several seasons. Seeing this team play so sluggishly on offense after a bye week was very disappointing. That has to be one of the issues Kevin Patullo and company attack this week.
This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: DeVonta Smith takes ownership after another sluggish Eagles showing
