Should the Philadelphia Eagles consider reuniting with Wendell Smallwood?

Wendell Smallwood could help the Philadelphia Eagles this fall.

Wendell Smallwood never quite got a fair shake with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The 153rd overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, Smallwood immediately entered a running backs rotation alongside Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles, and Kenjon Barner, and remained in one until his eventual release just before the 2019 season. Smallwood never received 20 touches in a game – let alone carries – only surpassed 50 percent of the team’s offensive snaps in a game four times, and never had a single 100-yard game as a pro.

If Smallwood’s career ended today – a very real possibility with how short an NFL running back’s shelflife has become – he’ll have rushed for 931 yards on 233 carries for five touchdowns – with his high watermark coming in a 2016 Week 3 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

More from Section 215

Smallwood has played alongside everyone from LeGarrette Blount to Josh Adams, Derrius Guice, and even Adrian Peterson, and yet, despite being able to do a little bit of everything, he’s never been more than a part-time player regardless of who was calling plays, which coordinators were helping to put the offense together, or which NFC East team he was playing for.

Call me a football romantic, but I think that’s a real shame.

As crazy as it may sound now, landing Smallwood in the fifth round actually felt like a real steal for the Philadelphia Eagles. Smallwood’s measurables were actually remarkably similar to that of fourth overall pick Ezekiel Elliott – with the former outpacing Dallas’ first-round pick at the broad jump and the vertical jump while running an identical 4.47 40 yard dash. Granted, Smallwood and Elliott are far from the same player, as Elliott nearly outran Smallwood’s entire production at West Virginia in his final year at OSU, but landing a budget Elliott in the fifth round is all a talent evaluator can really ask for.

Plenty of starting-caliber running backs have been drafted on Day 3 and with some luck, maybe Smallwood would be able to add his name to that ever-expanding list.

But hey, just because a consistent role never quite materialized for Smallwood during his first tenure with the Eagles doesn’t mean a reunion of sorts couldn’t breed positive results for all parties involved. If anything it may be just what the doctor ordered.

Now as you may or may not know, the Eagles went really, really light at running back this offseason, with the only additions at the position coming in the re-signing of Corey Clement, and the additions of UDFA rushers Michael Warren and speedy returner Adrian Killins (more on him here). Could the Eagles, in theory, survive the 2020 season with Miles Sanders as their bell cow, Boston Scott serving as Sproles 2.0, and Corey Clement filling in wherever needed? Maybe so, but isn’t that a lot of pressure to put on one player with only 455 carries over the last four years? Didn’t 2019 prove that a team is only as good as their depth?

In Smallwood, the Eagles could add a veteran rusher with three years of experience in Doug Pederson’s scheme during a pandemic-shortened offseason. He’s scrappy enough to help cover up for the Eagles’ lack of a legitimate between the tackles power back, fast enough to make plays in open space, and elusive enough to weave through traffic both inside and out.

Could a player like Warren, Killins, or even 2019 waiver wire signee Elijah Holyfield ultimately beat out Smallwood in camp? Maybe so but isn’t that the whole point of camp?

In a usual year, the idea of re-signing Wendell Smallwood to a one-year, veteran minimum deal would be rather inconsequential, however, 2020 is anything but a usual year. Training camp rosters may be limited, the preseason may not happen at all, and the Philadelphia Eagles may enter Week 1 with their least prepared roster to date. While the Eagles are better prepared to weather this storm than most, as they only have a few starting roles up for grabs across their depth chart, they would still happily welcome a familiar face with experience in Duce Staley’s rushing scheme and a built-in report with the rest of the roster. It worked well for Jordan Matthews in 2018, why not Smallwood in 2020?