ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- To locate the adjective which most graphically captures in print the startlingly lean physique of Philadelphia Eagles second-year wide receiver Todd Pinkston, open up the thesaurus and thumb right beyond "thin."

Skip over "skinny," omit "emaciated," read beyond "reedy," gallop past "gaunt." And when you get to "anorexic," well, stop right there, because you've indeed happened upon precisely the term for Pinkston, a would-be poster boy for Jenny Craig disciples.

	Wideout Todd Pinkston must use his head better than this to improve in his second year.

At roughly 6-feet-2 and an alleged 170 pounds, the second-round draft choice in 2000 is symbolic of a wide receiver kiddy corps that must grow up in a hurry this season if the Eagles are to approximate their laudatory preseason press clippings. Long on talent, the former Southern Mississippi star is, alas, also lean on experience.

Notable about the Eagles is that the same can be said for the entire wide receiver pool, a group of 13 mostly untested players that totals only 18 regular-season starts, 111 catches and just six touchdowns. By way of comparison, eight wide receivers in the league have posted more catches in a single season than the Philadelphia pass-catchers have in aggregate.

While it's true that the return to health of tailback Duce Staley is the single-most essential priority for an Eagles offense that must enhance its No. 17 statistical status of a year ago, it seems that what quarterback Donovan McNabb needs every bit as much (and perhaps even more so) is for the callow wide receivers to transform potential into production.

"We have to play big, it's as simple as that, for our offense to be better," said Pinkston, who had just 10 receptions in his rookie campaign. "The (onus) is definitely on us, since we're all they've got here. There aren't any older guys around to bail us out and, in a way, that's good because we either sink or swim."

Merely treading water will be a difficult enough chore given the complexity of the Andy Reid-designed passing game, a West Coast bastardization in which the wide receivers have to read the secondary on the run and make the appropriate adjustments. Reid, in early spring, opted to stake his fortunes on the younger players, releasing both starters from the 2000 season -- Charles Johnson and Torrance Small.

The veteran tandem combined for 96 receptions last season, third-poorest in the league for a starting duet, and struck fear into zero cornerbacks. At least with the youngsters, the opposing secondary will have to respect their raw speed if not their resumes. Only four-year veteran James Thrash, signed from the Washington Redskins as an unrestricted free agent, has more than 50 catches in his career.

And the fleet but unpolished Thrash, who had only 15 catches entering the 2000 season and was more renowned for his kickoff return ability, had never been more than just the No. 3 wideout on the depth chart until injuries ravaged the Redskins last year. Now the Eagles, who most pundits feel will claim the NFC East championship in 2001, have put him in the position of being a so-called "lead" receiver.

It's a role not even Thrash himself envisioned when he signed a four-year contract with Philadelphia, where he assumed he would be no better than the No. 2 wide receiver. Of course, that was before Reid jettisoned the graybeards and opted to green up the receiving corps, hoping to gain more vertical dimension in his passing game.

	“	I do think, though, that it's an enthusiastic bunch that wants to get better and make big plays. There's good collective speed here, so we should be able to stretch (secondaries) out more. ”
		— James Thrash, Eagles wide receiver

"Every year in the league, I'd always be able to look to a more experienced guy, someone like an Irving Fryar perhaps, to provide me some guidance," said the 28-year-old Thrash, the oldest wide receiver on the roster. "Now, all of a sudden, I'm the guy everyone is looking to for answers, and sometimes I have as many questions as they do. I do think, though, that it's an enthusiastic bunch that wants to get better and make big plays. There's good collective speed here, so we should be able to stretch (secondaries) out more."

Any elasticity would be welcome for an aerial attack that in 2000 had all the stretch of a 10-year-old pair of BVDs.

The team's leading pass-catcher last year was tight end Chad Lewis, with 69 grabs. The Eagles were one of just nine teams to not have a wide receiver atop the catches chart.

Even with Reid's sophisticated blueprint, Philadelphia averaged a microscopic 5.04 yards per pass play and 10.23 yards per completion. Those were the sixth- and fourth-lowest in the NFL, respectively, and Reid decided that, if nothing else, he was going to back enemy defenses off the line of scrimmage a step more this year. Generating results will require more than just changing the pieces of the puzzle.

In Reid, offensive coordinator Rod Dowhower and quarterbacks coach Brad Childress, the Eagles employ some of the game's most fertile minds. But minds don't matter if the talent doesn't correspond, and catching up to the ambitious learning curve that the staff has established will take more than impressive 40-yard dash times.

It is quite a gamble by Reid, basically overhauling his entire wide receiver contingent, enacting a facelift with a transfusion of up-and-down upstarts. It's a gamble, however, the players believe will benefit this team in the long run because it replaces a starting tandem that couldn't run long anymore.

There has been no attempt, though, to bolstering the group with a veteran. The fact the receivers aren't looking over their shoulders has kept them focused on advancing their skills and the knowledge of Reid's offense.

"You have to be confident that you know what you're doing," said third-year veteran Na Brown, who is battling for a starting job. "It's about reaction, not thinking, 'Well, now, the corner is squatting back there at 12 yards, so I've got to break this route here.' It has to be second nature. We're not there yet, but we're making progress."

The 2001 starters will almost certainly come from a quartet that includes Thrash, Brown, Pinkston and first-round draft choice Freddie Mitchell of UCLA. In the preseason defeat here Saturday night, Mitchell demonstrated fearlessness over the middle and the ability to come out of his cuts at full speed, not having to throttle down to catch the ball. The bet here is that, by midseason, the technically proficient Mitchell will be starting.

There was some symbolism, though, to the fact that the first snap of the first preseason game was a quick hitch pass to Pinkston, who stiff-armed Buffalo corner Ken Irvin, then turned up the sideline for a 17-yard gain. It was as if Reid was demonstrating he is not about to go into an offensive shell while the young wide receivers try to complete their apprenticeships.

That the first play was called for Pinkston might also have been telling, since he is the wideout who most has the chance to be a special player. His fragile appearance aside, Pinkston is a fluid athlete who can run all the routes and isn't afraid of contact. Early in the game, Pinkston caught two passes before a throw slightly behind him caromed off his chest on a third-down play.

It was, Pinkston and Thrash insisted, the kind of play they will make in the future -- a catch that will be made easier by knowing the offense as rote. At this point, though, there is little routine about what they are being asked to accomplish. It appears, though, that Reid would not do things differently if given a second chance.

The kiddy corps, Reid feels, will grow up quickly.

"I saw some good and I saw some bad," Reid said. "But we did enough things well for me to be positive about it."

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.