When the Philadelphia Eagles traded a third-round pick and two sevenths to acquire Jahan Dotson from the Washington Commanders, it looked like Nick Sirianni had finally found his WR3 of the present and maybe the future.

A former first-round pick out of Penn State, Dotson was a fairly productive player for Washington over the past few years, amassing 1,066 yards and 11 touchdowns as the Commander's WR2 behind only Terry McLaurin and looked like a natural to fill the third receiver role next to DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown.

So what gives? Well, in the leadup to the bye, Sirianni was asked that very question by reporters and let it be known that he likes what Dotson has done so far, even if the team hasn't gone out of their way to force-feed him the ball outside of the rhythm of the offense.

“It’s hard to force feed someone the football based off – again, as an offensive coach, you always want to be on the attack. But there is being on the attack, and then there’s also taking what the defense gives you,” Sirianni told reporters.

“The ball went to him when it was supposed to go to him yesterday. And there were some times where the ball could have gone to him where something might have happened that took that away. And so, again, you’re a product sometimes of how the defense is played as a wide receiver. It’s a little different sometimes, at wide receiver, of how the ball gets itself to you.

“Yeah, again, the ball didn’t find him as much yesterday. And it hasn’t these first couple weeks. But that doesn’t mean we’re any less high on him than we were when we first got him. I think he’s got great play-making ability, great potential, and we’ve just got to find ways to figure out how to use that potential.”

While playing within the confines of an offense is well and good, even if it isn't particularly effective week in and week out, the fact that Dotson has only been targeted nine times through four games despite Philadelphia's increasingly light supporting cast either says that the PSU product isn't getting open – which he isn't – or that Jalen Hurts doesn't seem to trust him very much, which also appears to be the case. If moving the ball faster is the top priority of the Eagles' offense during the bye, then getting Dotson involved has to be a close second.

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) in street clothes due to injury looks on against the New Orleans Saints during the first half at Caesars Superdome.
Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Kellen Moore is also aware of the Eagles' Jahan Dotson issue

Using some of his media time to discuss Dotson's issues as the Eagles WR3, then WR2, and Week 4 WR1, Moore reflected on the former Commanders' time in Philadelphia so far and why the team can't seem to get much going when he's on the field.

“Jahan is going about this the right process. He’s done a really nice job as far as coming in here and getting acclimated. Again, like a number of our guys, I think our focus is on how we can give them the best opportunity to be successful, give them more targets, more looks. He had some in there and we just weren’t able to get to him.”

Can Moore figure out a way to make Dotson the first read more often? Maybe so, but regardless, he should be spending the Bye week catching passes from Hurts on some beach somewhere because, at this point, the Eagles may just trade him away once more to a team like Carolina for someone like Diontae Johnson, who reportedly could be on the block.