Philadelphia Eagles: Corey Clement would make great No. 1 running back
By Dan Parzych
After making a surprise impact as a rookie last season, the Philadelphia Eagles could end up seeing Corey Clement in the No. 1 running back role by the end of the year.
Before the Philadelphia Eagles know it, the start of the 2018 season will finally be here, as all eyes will be on whether Doug Pederson‘s team has what it takes to repeat as Super Bowl champions. For decades, the Eagles and their fans have desperately been waiting for the team to finally bring home that first Lombardi Trophy, but now the challenge becomes whether they can repeat.
Luckily, Philadelphia has plenty of reasons to feel confident about their chance of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy for a second year in a row, even if they have a few uncertainties in the injury department with players like Carson Wentz and Brandon Graham. Not to mention, the Eagles backfield should be in great shape once again, especially if Corey Clement takes on a larger role during his second season.
One of the main reasons why Philadelphia was so successful during their Super Bowl run was due to all of the talent they were fortunate enough to work with at the running back position.
Similar to the New England Patriots, Pederson and the Eagles ended up going with the approach of riding the hot hand at running back instead of focusing on one player receiving a majority of carries each week, and it worked wonders.
LeGarrette Blount may no longer be in the picture, but with Clement and Jay Ajayi leading the way at running back, Philadelphia shouldn’t have any reason to worry.
In fact, now that Clement has a year of experience under his belt along with the feeling of winning the Super Bowl, don’t be surprised if he gives Ajayi a run for his money when it comes to being the No. 1 running back on offense.
Paul Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News recently did an article about Clement, and how the youngster is ready to continue growing in Philadelphia’s offense during his sophomore campaign.
Around this time last year, nobody ever would have imagined a player like Clement being this hyped up, but this is just another example of how much of a steal he ended up being at running back.
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Even if Ajayi starts off the year as the top option in the backfield, Clement will still be heavily used by Pederson and could even end up taking over the role by the end of the 2018 season. Plus, when looking at all of the uncertainties for some players like Wentz as mentioned before, Pederson will rely even more on guys like Clement to step up on offense to put the team in better position of making another run at the Super Bowl.