It’s early, but the Eagles seem to be settling on their committee of running backs. And it doesn’t look like Wendell Smallwood will be a big part of it.
Jimmy Kempski of the PhillyVoice has been watching the practices and opines that LeGarrette Blount, Donnel Pumphrey and Darren Sproles will be their top 3.
“During spring practices, Pumphrey got noticeably more reps in practice than Smallwood, and that has continued into training camp,” Kempski writes.
Pumphrey is the ridiculously small (5-8, 176) back they selected in the fourth round. But while he’s about the same size as DeSean Jackson, Pumphrey ran for 6,405 yards at San Diego State.
The Eagles selected Smallwood in the fifth round a year ago, and a year ago he was the guy that had some buzz surrounding him. As a rookie, he was lighting it up in drills and early in camp. But it seems like they’ve soured on him. Kempski suggests Smallwood might not even make the 53-man roster.
Blount should be their main runner between the tackles, and he could punch in plenty of touchdowns. The Eagles have one of the league’s top half-dozen offensive lines (they managed 16 rushing touchdowns last year).
Sproles should fill primarily a third-down type role, picking up a few touches per game running and receiving. He weighs only 190 pounds and is 34 years old.
I’ve had a pretty generous grade on Smallwood all along, but I think it’s past time for me to dial those expectations way back. Unless he really shines in the preseason games, playing his way into a larger role, he doesn’t right now appear to be draftable.
—Ian Allan