The Eagles face uncertainty at running back
The Philadelphia Eagles face some uncertainty, regarding their running back situation. The team currently has six running backs on their 90-man roster (Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles, Wendell Smallwood, Kenjon Barner, Byron Marshall, and Cedric O’Neal).
Can the Eagles succeed with this group?
Doug Pederson, the new Eagles head coach, had a prominent role in the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive play-calling. He had full control of offensive play-calling, during the second half of games, starting week seven versus the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ever since then, the Chiefs went on an 11-game winning streak, which included their wildcard playoff victory, versus the Houston Texans.
This all transpired after the Chiefs lost their star running back, and best offensive player Jamaal Charles. The Chiefs still managed to finish sixth in rushing, with a mixture of running backs Charcandrick West (nine games started, 160 carries, 634 rushing yards, and four touchdowns), and Spencer Ware (two games started, 72 carries, 403 rushing yards, and six touchdowns). West was an undrafted free agent, while Ware was a sixth round selection out of LSU.
Many are hoping Pederson can work that magic in Philadelphia. Ryan Mathews has rushed for over 1,000 yards twice in his career, but has only played one full season in his six-year career. Darren Sproles isn’t a prototypical running back. He’s a great weapon to have, but not a back to carry a starter workload. Plus, he is currently absent from the team’s offseason activities. Kenjon Barner is an unproven running back, whose college coach, and former Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, didn’t use much. He started to get some carries (28 carries, 124 rushing yards, and zero touchdowns), prior to Ryan Mathews’ concussion injury, but never stood out. Wendell Smallwood, Byron Marshall, and Cedric O’Neal are all rookies.
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Doug Pederson is going to have to get creative with this group. The Eagles can form a running back by committee group—something they attempted to do last season, but didn’t quite pan out. The team finished 14th in rushing, which isn’t bad, but clearly wasn’t enough. Former running back DeMarco Murray, who demanded a trade and received it, only rushed for over 100 yards once last season. The same goes for Ryan Mathews. The Eagles were 7-1, when the team rushed for more than 100 yards.
The Chiefs bread and butter was running the ball. The team was 30th in passing. If Doug Pederson continues the “run the ball” mindset with the Eagles, the running backs must step up. Of course, there’s time before the season begins, for the Eagles to add to the group. But as of right now, there’s cause for concern, with the current crop of backs.
The Eagles coaching staff really likes Wendell Smallwood’s speed, vision, and receiving abilities out of the backfield. Byron Marshall has a Darren Sproles like skill set. Cedric O’Neal rushed for more than 4,000 yards, during his D-II tenure. Hopefully, the Eagles, rookie backs prove to be a diamond in the rough.
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