Eagles Backup RB Situation Looks Redundant; Here's Why
PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Eagles like a type when it comes to the modern NFL game and the value of running backs.
The two times Philadelphia GM Howie Roseman was prepared to zig when everyone else was zagging can be traced to 2017 and Christian McCaffrey, and the 2024 offseason with Saquon Barkley.
Roseman was prepared to take McCaffrey in the first round of the draft seven years ago and went far above and beyond his typical budgetary discipline when it comes to the position with the free-agent deal he gave Barkley back in March.
Eagles rookie RB Will Shipley. © Ken Ruinard, The Greenville News
The obvious connection between the two outliers is their impact on the passing game, something McCaffrey thrives in with the San Francisco 49ers. The Eagles, meanwhile, believe Barkley can be the next best thing to CMac with the supporting cast around him in the talented Philadelphia offense.
The RB room in Philadelphia as a whole though is shaping up as a redundant one for Jemal Singleton with presumed backups Kenny Gainwell and 2024 fourth-round pick Will Shipley also regarded as backs whose skill sets are bolstered by their perceived impacts in the passing game.
In the case of Gainwell, he was a very good receiver in college at Memphis but that hasn’t been tapped into all that much by the Eagles even though he has spent most of the past two seasons as the team’s high-leverage back who plays on many third downs and hurry-up situations. Through three full seasons, Gainwell has amassed just 86 receptions.
Meanwhile, Shipley is more projection as a receiver after suffering through too many drops at Clemson but the rookie is certainly more lightning than thunder just like Gainwell.
Because you have a three-down skill set with Barkley, perhaps the Eagles should have been better focused on adding a meaningful chain-mover via the draft.
Undrafted Georgia RB Kendall Milton is certainly that type of back at 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds and he will battle 6-1, 219-pound futures signing Ty Davis-Price, a 2022 third-round pick by San Francisco, and Lew Nichols (5-10, 220), the 2021 FBS rushing leader at Central Michigan with 1,710 yards, as potential two-down runners at the back end of the roster or the practice squad.
While Barkley is perceived as a bell cow, he’s also already accumulated over 1,500 touches in his NFL career and has missed 26 games over his first six seasons. Over the past three, he’s missed eight games, seven of those due to injury.
The contingency plan should have been better here. The odds are that Barkley will miss a game or two in a best-case scenario and if that’s the case, simply elevating Gainwell or Shipley to a three-down role would be a tough sell on a particular game day.
Having a more pedigreed two-down runner and piece-mealing the backup situation would have been the more prudent path.