The Philadelphia Eagles traded for the wrong Detroit Lion

While adding Golden Tate will surely help to bolster the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense, they actually should have traded a different Detroit Lions playmaker: LeGarrette Blount.

Let me first preface this Philadelphia Eagles hot take by saying that I am a fan of Golden Tate.

The dude is a baller, and actually helped me to win my first ever fantasy football league all the way back in 2015, but after thinking long and hard about Howie Roseman‘s latest move, I’ve come to a conclusion that may be a bit controversial: the Philadelphia Eagles traded for the wrong Detroit Lion.

While adding Tate to the team’s receiving corp will undoubtedly help, especially when you consider that he’s among the very best receivers in the league at recording yards after the catch and ran a blazing fast 4.42 40 coming out of Notre Dame, he doesn’t fill the team’s biggest immediate need; running the ball.

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Do you know who could have filled that void and served as a catalyst to return the Birds to their 2017 form? That’s right, none other than former Philly fan favorite LeGarrette Blount.

Honestly, had the team known that Ajayi would have gone down with a season-ending injury, I can almost guarantee they would have opted to resign the veteran back as opposed to allowing him to walk, but with the J-Train derailed with a broken wheel, bringing him back should have been considered a priority, especially for the Day 3 pick his services probably would have commanded.

Now sure, Blount isn’t exactly having the best season of his career in Detroit, as he’s only rushed the ball 60 times in seven games for 170 yards and three touchdowns in his third stint under Matt Patricia, but that’s more a consequence of playing for one of the least productive rushing attacks in the entire National Football League, as opposed to a decline in his productivity as a player.

If given a chance to take the ball up the gut about a dozen times a game, Blount could still be a very productive rusher in the right scheme.

If history is of any indication, the Eagles’ scheme fits his playing style to a T.

Though he’s not going to juke anyone out of their spikes, or catch 50 balls as a receiver coming out of the backfield, Blount is one of the most aggressive, hard-hitting battering rams in the entire league and could have served Doug Pederson well as a ball hog willing to eat up the time of possession game after game.

While the Eagles offense may not be incredibly potent at the moment, they currently led the league in time of possession, holding onto the ball for almost 34 minutes a game. With Blount under center, or, rather, in the shotgun, that number may be approaching 40.

Say what you will about Tate, but if anything he’s going to shrink the team’s time of possession differential with his big-play ability, as opposed to shortening the game with some well-timed rushes up the middle (that’s far from a bad thing).

Sigh, too bad the trade deadline has already passed, as Blount would have been a perfect fit on this roster.

Next. Trading for Jay Ajayi looks like a stroke of genius. dark

With a glaring need to find a consistent lead back who can control the clock and field possession battle, the Philadelphia Eagles will now have to continue to evaluate the players they already have on their roster now, namely Corey Clement, Wendell Smallwood, and Josh Adams and hopefully craft a new rushing plan that highlights their collective strengths, while delivering some much-needed parody to the team’s run-to-pass ratio.

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