Eagles' Nelson Agholor focused on present, not previous struggles | Paul Domowitch

IT'S BEEN pretty obvious this offseason that the Eagles aren't waiting around for the light to go on for Nelson Agholor.

Chip Kelly, who selected him in the first round of the 2015 draft, doesn't live here anymore, and the man who does, de facto general manager Howie Roseman, views Kelly draft picks and free-agent acquisitions with the same disdain a wife has for the deer head her ex-husband hung over the fireplace.

After watching Agholor struggle for the second straight season last year, the Eagles went out and signed veterans Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith, and added wideouts Mack Hollins and Shelton Gibson in last month's draft.

Now, both Jeffery and Smith come with question marks. Jeffery has missed 11 games in the last two years and had only six touchdown catches in the 21 games he did play in.

And while Smith caught 30 touchdown passes in four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, he comes to the Eagles after catching only 53 passes the last two seasons for the San Francisco 49ers.

Still, their arrival wouldn't seem to bode well for young Mr. Agholor. But a visit to his locker Tuesday after the Eagles' first OTA workout found him remarkably upbeat for a guy who could be fighting for a roster spot this summer.

He cheerily described himself as "confident and comfortable," and added, "I really like where I'm headed." He referred to the additions of Jeffery and Smith as "a very, very unique opportunity."

"I get a chance to work alongside Torrey (in practice) and watch Alshon work," he said. "I'm very close with Alshon. (Their additions) just gives the receiver room a lot of depth and some experience.

"Those guys have proven themselves in the league. If I show I'm capable of performing the same way they are, then I'm in the conversation."

If the Eagles are going to make a playoff run this season, they need much better production from the wide receiver position than they got last year, when Jordan Matthews was the only wideout with more than 36 catches.

Agholor, the 20th overall selection in the '15 draft, has only 59 receptions in two seasons. He has yet to have more than 65 receiving yards in a game. He has only three career touchdown catches and nine third-down receptions and drops way too many passes.

He hit rock bottom in last November's 26-15 loss to Seattle when he failed to catch a pass, dropped a pass that would have given the Eagles a first down in Seattle territory and negated a 57-yard touchdown catch-and-run by tight end Zach Ertz when he failed to line up properly and drew an illegal formation penalty.

After the game, a despondent Agholor said, "I just have to get out of my own head," and acknowledged he was "pressing so much and worried about so many things."

The next week against Green Bay, coach Doug Pederson, concerned about Agholor's poor play and fragile state of mind, didn't even bother to activate him for the game. He did play the final five games, but had only nine catches for 101 yards and one touchdown.

Pederson fired wide receivers coach Greg Lewis after the season and replaced him with the more experienced Mike Groh.

"Nelson's worked extremely hard this offseason," Pederson said. "Mike Groh's addition has really sort of lit a fire under him a little bit. And bringing in Alshon and Torrey, as I've said all along, competition, man. It sharpens you. And that's what I've seen from Nelson. He's done a great job already this spring."

Agholor said he is only looking forward, not back. Ask him about the November benching and he says: "I don't focus on that. The only thing that matters is the current situation. I'm here. I have an opportunity to get better and make myself a better football player.

"I think I was too worried about taking a large leap in one day. It's all about getting consistently better each day. Even if it's just a little.

"Some of the best players in this league, they didn't just become really great their first day. It was a process. They made a continual progression. That's my focus now."

It's easy to rush to judgment and declare Agholor a first-round bust. And maybe that will ultimately be his legacy in Philadelphia.

But he is not ready to accept that yet. The same was said of Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham early in his career, and he has gone on to have a very productive career.

"(The 'bust' talk) does motivate me. It motivates me a lot," Agholor said. "Because at the end of the day, I love what I do. I love this game and I want to play it for a long time. So I'm not going to allow anybody besides myself to determine how long I do this.

"Every day I wake up and have my mind focused on doing this for a long time. And this is only Year 3. And I want to play 10-plus (years). But at the end of the day, the only way I can do that is by making myself better and making myself a good football player."

Asked whether he feels he is fighting for a roster spot, Agholor said, "I feel like I want to be one of the best players on this team. I want to be a player who, when (the coaches) watch me on tape, they say, 'Yeah, we need him.'

"The best players play. And I want to be one of the best players. That's what I focus on every day."

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@Pdomo Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog