Next man up is a familiar refrain around the NFL.
However, starters are starters for a reason and unless there’s been a missed personnel evaluation, rarely is the alternative to attrition a worthy replicant of the original.
The next man up is usually about perseverance. For one Sunday in October, Grant Calcaterra looked like a worthy copy for star tight end Dallas Goedert, who was forced to leave a 20-16 win over Cleveland after three plays with a hamstring injury.
Goedert came into the game with 24 receptions for 301 yards, leading all NFL tight ends with 75.3 receiving yards per game.
Typically the TE2, Calcaterra stepped into an expanded role by catching all four of his targets for 67 yards, including 34- and 20-yard explosive plays where the SMU product who was once a college teammate of Jalen Hurts at Oklahoma got to show off his gifts in space.
“Means a lot,” Calcaterra said when asked about Hurts trusting him. “We had that connection since college. Obviously, we're loaded with talent on this team. The ball doesn't always come my way. It's great that he still trusts me to make a play.”
The trust allowed Calcaterra to show the playmaking ability that many haven’t seen yet at the NFL level but something the Eagles have believed is coming behind the scenes.
“It’s obviously been a long time,” Calcaterra said. “So yeah, it felt awesome. It was just like riding a coach I was telling my coach [Jason Michael]. Johnny [Wilson] had a tremendous block on that [34-yeard] play that freed me up so yeah, it felt good.”
Hurts, meanwhile, understands what confidence can do for those who may be needed at a moment’s notice.
“I think the biggest takeaway from that, and in five games, it's only been one time where we really just had everyone out there, our clean slate, first unit, first group,” the quarterback said. “And so that definitely presents a challenge in itself that we have to overcome as a team.
“But I'm very proud of how, they were prepared to step up and be ready. And then, honestly, some of those things just pop, you know, Grant is Grant. He had two back-to-back. Yeah, the second one is never supposed to go to him, to be honest. It's not his ball. But he showed up. We were able to get it to him, and he ran with the ball in his hands.”
