Philadelphia Eagles: Will Kenneth Gainwell steal Boston Scott’s role?

Boston Scott is good for about two elite games a year.

When the diminutive rusher out of LA Tech takes the field against the New York Giants, make sure he’s in your fantasy lineup, as Scott has been good for an average of 108 yards from scrimmage and 1.5 touchdowns per game, but outside of games against the G-Men? Scott is aggressively ordinary.

Now granted, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Plenty of players have no marquee games on their resume, let alone four, but in a league as cutthroat as the NFL, teams are going to start looking around to replace a second-string rusher who barely averages 24.12 yards from scrimmage over a 25 game sample size sans the Giants games.

Well, fortunately for fans of the Philadelphia Eagles, Howie Roseman finally addressed the running back position in a major way by drafting do-it-all rusher/receiver Kenneth Gainwell, the return of Jordan Howard, and ex-second round pick turned waiver wire claim Kerryon Johnson.

So, with the most talent at the RB spot the Philadelphia Eagles have had under contract since their Super Bowl run in 2017, where does Boston Scott fit in in this his forthcoming contract year?

Can Scott finally transcend a special teams role with the Philadelphia Eagles?

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There’s a lot of talk about Miles Sanders‘ role with the Philadelphia Eagles heading into the 2021 NFL season.

To some, like ESPN’s Fantasy Guru Matthew Berry, 2021 will finally mark the end of the “Sanders bell-cow-era” – if such a thing ever existed – while to others, there’s still hope that a new head coach could finally unlock the three-down potential the former Nittany Lion has shown as a pro and finally turn him into South Philly Saquon Barkley.

If you fall into the latter category, I can’t fault your optimism, but unfortunately, that just isn’t how Nick Sirianni runs an offense.

While Sirianni isn’t as averse to a 50-50 run-pass ratio as his predecessor, as Doug Pederson would occasionally look physically pained by having to put the ball on the ground to keep opposing defenses honest, he’s far more inclined to deploy his running backs situationally, as opposed to a one-size-fits-all rotation based on a pitch count.

That means when he needs an RB to pass block; he’ll likely turn to Kerryon Johnson, who is one of the better backfield blockers in the league. Similarly, when he wants to attack an opposing defense with running back receiving plays or even do some motioning out of the backfield, he’ll likely turn to Sanders or to Gainwell to optimize its efficiency.

So, where does that leave Scott?

…hmm.

Given his size and inability to contribute in the pass blocking game, Scott will likely be competing for snaps as a coast-to-coast change of pace runner behind Sanders while also looking to get involved in the passing game.

Do you know who else will be competing for those very same snaps? Yeah, that’d be Gainwell, who was hand-selected over more traditional runners because the Eagles value his skill set.

A 2,000-yard all-purpose yards getter during his second and final season with the Memphis Tigers, Gainwell is a 5-foot-11 version of Darren Sproles, with legit 4.47 speed and soft hands. He torched opposing teams in the passing game during his tenure in Tennessee to the tune of 610 yards on 51 targets and is one of the rare players who only dropped three passes during his college tenure, according to the fine folks over at PFF.

If Gainwell can translate that game to the NFL and show an ability to remain a productive rusher at 191 pounds, there’s little reason to believe he couldn’t be a viable offensive weapon for the Eagles in the same way Nyheim Hynes was for the Colts during Sirianni’s tenure with the team, maybe even a better one if used more in the passing game.

Had Pederson been retained for one more season, maybe the duo could have shared the field together in the fabled “pony set” that was initially drawn up for Sproles and Donnell Pumphrey – remember him? – but in Indianapolis, the Colts seldom deployed multiple running back at the same time, let alone two smaller ones in the passing game.

Could that change? Sure, but riddle me this, why would Scott receive those snaps over Sanders, who is a far better receiver and presents more optionally as a runner?

Unfortunately for Scott, even his experience with the team makes for little in the way of favor, as everyone is equally Green to Sirianni’s offense unless the team goes out and signs Trey Burton (more on that here).

Really, the only silver lining Scott has in retaining his spot is his ability to play special teams, which isn’t all that impressive considering he ranked 12th in kick returning last season. Even if none of the Eagles’ other running backs have experience in the return game, surely a player like Quez Watkins could step into that role full time and at least match Scott’s level of efficiency.

For my money, Boston Scott is on the outside looking in on the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2021 roster. At best, he’s their fourth-string running back and will make the team over Jordan Howard due to his special teams abilities, but I could just as easily see the team instead retain a backup power runner behind Kerryon Johnson – or vice versa – and watch Scott walk in the final trim down to 53. If that happens, keep an eye on the New York Giants, as he certainly has a history of playing well at the Meadowlands.