Philadelphia Eagles are a little late with their Devonta Freeman interest
By David Esser
The Philadelphia Eagles and RB Devonta Freeman are getting close to joining forces.
Better late than never, as it looks like the Philadelphia Eagles are finally planning to address their backup running back position sometime next week. The team’s running game looked absolutely pathetic during their Week 1 loss to Washington, so it should come as no surprise that the team is poking around the free agent RB market. The Eagles also struggled mightily when it came to their pass protection on Sunday, and a lot of that could be attributed to poor backfield blocking.
Considering Devonta Freeman‘s tenured past as a serviceable every-down back, and his above average ability in the pass-blocking game, it’s a move that makes an infinite amount of success. The only problem, however, is that this interest came a week too late.
Heading into the 2020 regular season it wasn’t necessarily a secret that the Eagles needed to add depth behind star running back Miles Sanders. Not only had Sanders been nursing a hamstring injury for the majority of the offseason, but the Eagles have long implored a “running back by committee” approach to their offense. While Sanders absolutely looked primed to take over a “bell cow” approach to things in the backfield this year, having a legit power-back behind him to chew clock and mix up the pace would only help Philly’s overall running game.
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Boston Scott and Corey Clement are fun rotational pieces, but neither possess the size or the ability to eat up carries should Sanders miss time again later in the season.
The Philadelphia Eagles paid the price for their lack of depth in Week 1, as they got just 55 total rushing yards from their collective backfield. They couldn’t get anything going up the middle of the field, and it really put the team in a position where they were forced to pass a ton, despite owning a 17-0 lead in the first half. Clement’s and Scott’s poor pass-blocking snaps only compounded on the issue, as Carson Wentz was drilled left and right for the entirety of the second half.
The Eagles interest in Freeman is completely justified, and should he look healthy and in shape during his workout, I would expect him to be signed to a contract for the remainder of the season. However, the fact that it took Howie Roseman witnessing a bad loss before acknowledging an obvious hole is concerning to say the least. Everybody in the world pretty much knew Scott and Clement weren’t good enough backups behind Sanders, and it ultimately cost the team a potential win in Week 1.
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The Eagles head into Week 2 with Sanders re-entering the running back rotation, and the hope is that he is healthy enough to get 20-25 touches on Sunday. Freeman’s visit isn’t until after the Eagles game against the Rams, so the team will be once again be without a legitimate power-back backup. Once/if Freeman joins the team, the Eagles could ease off on Sanders’ workload as he continues to recover from his hamstring injury.