Philadelphia Eagles: 5 takeaways from loss to Cleveland Browns in preseason
By Dan Parzych
4. Smallwood has decent performance
On their way to winning the Super Bowl last season, one of the main reasons why the Eagles were able to find so much success on was due to having a trio of running backs causing all sorts of problems for opposing defenses. LeGarrette Blount, Jay Ajayi, and Corey Clement all came big towards the end of the year to give Philadelphia one of the league’s most dangerous ground games, but also the three running backs deserve credit for being unselfish as well with carries.
Blount may no longer be part of the picture, but the presence of Ajayi and Clement should keep the unit in solid shape for the 2018 season. Not to mention, the Eagles hope to see Darren Sproles return to his normal speedy ways to help make up for Blount’s absence, as the veteran will also be feeling a little extra motivated since this is expected to be his final NFL season.
Beyond these three players, there’s uncertainty over what the rest of depth at running back will look like, and seeing Wendell Smallwood earn the start against Cleveland shows Philadelphia wants to see what he brings to the table. 53 rushing yards on 12 carries isn’t terrible, but at least Smallwood gained an upper advantage since Matt Jones made the costly mistake of fumbling in the first half.