Domo: Eagles need rookie RBs to produce this season – Philly.com

ON PAPER AT LEAST, On paper at least, the Eagles’ running back picture heading into this week’s first round of spring OTAs is more say what? than Cezanne.

There is injury-prone Ryan Mathews, who averaged 5.1 yards per carry last year, but lugged the ball only 106 times and had more than 11 carries in only two games.

There is 5-6, 190-pound Darren Sproles, who turns 33 in mid-June. There is Kenjon Barner, who has all of 34 career rushing attempts.

And there are three talented, but untested rookies – fifth-rounder Wendell Smallwood (West Virginia) and undrafted free agents Byron Marshall (Oregon) and Cedric O’Neal (Valdosta State).

But there also is a retooled offensive line, a new blocking scheme and a new head coach – Doug Pederson – who, along with Andy Reid, did a helluva job last season of MacGyvering together one of the league’s better ground games in Kansas City after losing star running back Jamaal Charles to injury.

Charles tore his ACL in the fifth game of the season, forcing the Chiefs to go to a running attack by committee featuring three virtual unknowns – Charcandrick West, Spencer Ware and Knile Davis. The result: The Chiefs won 10 of their last 11 games and finished third in the league in yards per carry (4.7) and sixth in rushing yards per game (127.8).

That’s considerably better than the Eagles’ run production last season in Chip Kelly’s spread offense, when they finished 21st in yards per carry (3.9) and 14th in rushing yards per game (108.9).

Pederson seldom points fingers, but he did in February at the NFL Scouting Combine when asked why he thought the Eagles’ ground game struggled so much last season.

His conclusion, after reviewing last season’s film: Kelly’s offense failed to account for the different styles of his three primary running backs – Mathews, Sproles and DeMarco Murray. Ran the same plays for all three.

“The first thing I noticed was there were three different (types) of running backs on the roster, and you can’t take three different running backs and try to make them one running back,” he said.

“I’m not saying it’s right or wrong. But I just know that the different style of running that I’ll bring utilizes (the styles) of all three. You’ve got a downhill guy (Murray). You’ve got a slasher (Mathews). And you’ve got a great quick guy in Sproles who can create mismatches on defense, whether he’s coming out of the backfield or lining up as a receiver. Three different guys, three different styles.”

Murray is long gone, shipped to Tennessee in March, along with the five-year, $40 million contract Kelly gave him last year.

That leaves Mathews, Sproles, Barner and the three rookies.

Mathews is talented, but has managed to play more than 14 games in a season only once in six pro seasons.

The 5-6, 190-pound Sproles and the 5-9, 195-pound Barner figure to be used more as receivers than ballcarriers in Pederson’s West Coast hybrid.

That means the Eagles need to get some immediate production from one or more of the three rookie running backs.

The Eagles are high on the 5-10, 210-pound Smallwood, who led the Big 12 in rushing last season with 1,519 yards. He has the speed to get around the corner and enough strength, power and explosiveness to run between the tackles.

“His testing numbers were really good,” executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman said after the Eagles selected him with the 153rd overall pick in the draft.

“His production was really good. He can run. He can catch. He can pass-protect. I’m not sitting up here and saying this is LeSean McCoy in the fifth round. But this is a good player.”

Smallwood was the 11th running back taken. Five went in the 19 picks just ahead of him – Louisiana Tech’s Kenneth Dixon (No. 134 to Baltimore), Utah’s Devonta Boker (136 to Denver), Texas Tech’s DeAndre Washington (143 to Oakland), UCLA’s Paul Perkins (149 to the Giants) and Indiana’s Jordan Howard (150 to Chicago).

Smallwood disputed the notion by some scouts that he will be a situational third-down back in the NFL.

“I definitely see myself as an every-down back,” he said. “I’m not little. A lot of people think I’m little and can’t run between the tackles. But I’m here to prove everyone wrong.”

O’Neal was a four-year starter at Division II Valdosta, where the 6-0 210-pounder finished as the school’s career rushing leader (4,115) and also had 36 receptions last season. He’s a north-south runner with good vision and tackle-breaking ability, if not blazing speed.

“I just felt Philly was the best place for me,” said O’Neal, who played in a spread, tempo offense at Valdosta.

“Coach Duce (Staley) had reached out to me a couple of times during the draft process. He was pretty complimentary about me and my game. I just felt like he appreciates the type of player I am.”

The 5-9, 201-pound Marshall has running back-slot receiver versatility. He’s the only Pac-12 player in history to rush for 1,000 yards (1,038 in 2013) and also have 1,000 receiving yards (1,003 on 74 catches in 2014).

But he is coming off a serious ankle injury that limited him to four games last season at Oregon.

He could have applied for a medical hardship waiver that would have given him another year of eligibility, but opted against it.

“I was ready (to come out),” he said. “I was ready to leave the year before, but decided to come back and increase my knowledge of the receiver position and just get better at it. Then I ended up getting hurt.”

Like O’Neal, Marshall had multiple teams interested in signing him after the draft. And like O’Neal, he signed with the Eagles because the lack of depth at running back presented the best opportunity to make an NFL roster.

“Me and my agent looked into it,” he said. “He thought Philly was the best bet and (offered the) most opportunity for myself. The running back position was a little slim. I just need to take advantage of it.”

The Eagles are expected to work Marshall at both running back and in the slot during the spring OTAs and summer training camp.

“I think there’s a lot of opportunity here and I think there’s some stuff I can do to help the team,” he said. “But like I said, I have to take advantage of that and do what I can.”

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@Pdomo Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog

Published: May 16, 2016 — 6:38 PM EDTPhiladelphia Daily News

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