If Jordyn Tyson was fully healthy, he might just be WR1 in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Sure, Carnell Tate is a product of WRU, Ohio State, where he picked up the slack replacing Emeka Egbuka opposite Jeremiah Smith, and Mekhi Lemon might just be the next Amon-Ra St. Brown, turning in production and measurables remarkably similar to his fellow USC product, but when the ball ends up in Tyson’s hand, magic usually happens.
Beginning his college career at Colorado with Deion Sanders and company as a four-star recruit out of Allen, Texas, Tyson really became a prospect of note with the Sun Devils in 2024, where he led the team with 75 receptions for 1,101 yards and 10 receiving touchdowns. While Tyson’s 2025 season didn’t quite go as planned, appearing in just nine of the Sun Devils’ 13 games, he still showcased a unique ability to make moves, plays, and money as Arizona State’s top offensive weapon, catching 61 balls for 711 yards and eight touchdowns despite the fact that Big 12 foes knew he was almost always the primary target following Cam Skateboo’s jump to the New York Giants.
Had Tyson kept up the pace he set through those night games, finishing out the season in the Sun Bowl against Duke, the Sun Devils might not have only secured a win on New Year’s Eve, but could likely boast about having the No. 1 wide receiver taken in the 2026 NFL Draft to recruits for years to come.
But alas, it simply wasn’t meant to be. Tyson suffered a hamstring injury that kept him out of action in December, and while he did go to the combine, he only took part in the bench press. As a result, scouts don’t know how fast he runs, which is important for a 6-foot-2, 209-pound receiver, or how well he’s moving around laterally post-injury, questions that weren’t cleared up at his pro day. As a result, Tyson’s stock has dipped significantly in the eyes of some scouts, as reported by Matt Miller of ESPN.
“One player trending in the wrong direction leading up to the draft is Arizona State receiver Jordyn Tyson,” Miller said. “In reviewing my grades with a handful of scouts, many remarked that Tyson’s hamstring injury and lack of predraft workouts could cause him to slide to the back half of the first round. Three scouts told me that Tyson ranks as the No. 4 receiver on their internal boards. He is scheduled to do positional work for NFL teams on April 17.”
Could Tyson still go in the first 10 or so picks in this year’s draft? Sure, but if he starts to fall and is still on the board in the 20s, there’s one team who should start working the phones to guarantee he ends up on their roster come Week 1: the Philadelphia Eagles. Why? Because Tyson is the kind of contributor who can help the team win now and for years to come, regardless of how the rest of their team-building strategy shakes out.
Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
1. Jordan Tyson is perfect AJ Brown insurance
Even more so than who they will select when in the 2026 NFL Draft, the biggest question surrounding the Eagles in 2026 is which team AJ Brown will play for in Week 1.
After turning in the worst campaign of his career in a midnight green uniform in 2025, featuring more drama, dropped balls, and overall disappointment than any season prior, Brown’s status has been hotly debated by all 32 NFL teams’ fans, specifically the New England Patriots, 1K Always Open’s favorite team growing up.
If the Eagles land a player like Tyson, who projects as a true No. 1 option going forward, maybe they feel comfortable moving Brown now instead of hoping he stays bought in over the next nine months. Tyson and Smith could form a far more cost-effective one-two punch over the next five years with a much less expensive WR3 locked up one way or the other, and keep the Eagles’ offense humming.
And if Brown stays? Well, Tyson could unlock a new wrinkle to the Birds’ offense all the same, making them a better team in Week 1 of 2026 than they were in the Wildcard round of 2025.
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
2. Jordan Tyson can bring the YAC to the Eagles’ offense
While Tyson’s highlight reel is filled with the kind of plays that made Alshon Jeffrey a must-acquire before the Eagles’ first Super Bowl win, he’s just as effective at turning nothing into something, turning a two-yard screen pass and turning into a first down, or taking a drag route to the house if he can make his first man miss and get into the open field.
In 2025, Tyson averaged 11.7 yards per reception, with 4.3 coming after the catch, according to Pro Football Focus. His average depth of target was only 11.7 despite making it to the end zone on eight occasions, and he only dropped one of the 61 receptions thrown his way on 97 total targets.
While the Eagles loved to attack outside the hashmarks in 2025, where Smith specifically was able to smoothly operate without getting banged up across the middle of the field, Tyson is the kind of player who almost looks for contact, knowing that he can break initial contact and keep moving forward like LeSean McCoy or Saquon Barkley in open space.
Play him out wide as a press coverage buster from the X spot, slide him into the slot as a do-it-all offensive weapon or simply rotate the wide receivers around to feast on matchups; either way, Tyson is the kind of player who Sean Mannion could scheme up plays for, instead of forcing a square peg into a round hole like Kevin Patullo in 2025.
Denny Medley-Imagn Images
3. Jordan Tyson has the perfect contract for Jalen Hurts’ prime
As things presently stand, Jalen Hurts still has three years and $121.65 million left on the five-year, $255 million contract he signed back in 2023, with another $98.5 million left on the books in dead money from 2029-32 once his contract expires.
On paper, the Eagles could move on from Hurts after next season if they really wanted to and spread his remaining money out over multiple seasons, but it’s far more likely that Howie Roseman and the Birds will give the second-round signal-caller a long-term extension to spread his money out even further, just like they did with Dallas Goedert last month.
As a result, the Eagles will have a very expensive quarterback running their show for the remainder of his prime without the ability to skirt the cap and make his contract value artificially lowered like in 2023, and thus will need to find great players on good value contracts to remain one of the best teams in the NFL.
Enter Tyson, who absolutely fits that bill.
If the Eagles get Tyson at pick No. 23, the entire value of his four-year rookie-scale contract will come in at $19.4 million, with his fifth-year options likely hitting higher than that mark on its own, considering it’s the average of the third-through-20th highest paid players at their position, according to Over The Cap. Assuming Tyson can produce at a similar level to Smith during his rookie contract, getting a top-40 wide receiver for roughly $10 million a season over the aggregate would be a great way to offset monster contracts dished out to players like Hurts, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, and Quinyon Mitchell.
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