Philadelphia Eagles: Sign Brian Hill to the practice squad

Replacing Miles Sanders was never going to be easy for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Even if he doesn’t touch the ball nearly enough for anyone’s liking, especially his own, Sanders is still the Eagles’ most efficient rusher, most dynamic weapon in space, and their lone true hone run hitting back on an offense lacking slugging power.

Even if his stead on IR only lasts three weeks, which is the minimum allowed by league rule, Nick Sirianni will have to find creative ways to establish a running game and take some of the pressure off of his starting quarterback. That will start by elevating Jordan Howard to the active roster, with the rare opportunity for the pride of Indiana to become a practice squad starter on the table for Week 8.

But behind Howard, Kenneth Gainwell, and Boston Scott? The Eagles only have one running back, Jason Huntley, and he has only appeared in five games as a pro and recorded 19 yards from scrimmage on six offensive touches.

If the Philadelphia Eagles want to flex on the fly to become a team with a balanced offensive attack, it might be wise to further invest in the position, even if that just means signing a veteran back to their practice squad.

Brian Hill fits that bill.

There’s no downside to the Philadelphia Eagles pursuing a practice squad RB like Brian Hill.

Brian Hill has been in the NFL since 2017.

A former fifth-round pick who played his college ball at the University of Wyoming alongside a young Josh Allen and Marcus Epps, Hill has largely been a member of the Atlanta Falcons over that  time period, with a rookie season pit stop on the Cincinnati Bengals for good measure.

Though he’s seldom been used as a traditional lead back, starting three of the 45 games he’s appeared in as a pro, Hill carved out a nice niche in Dan Quinn’s offense as a short-yardage early downs specialist. Holding a very nice 4.7 yards per carry average over 209 total rushing attempts, Hill watched his offensive production improve with each passing season, with 2020 marking the first year of his career where he logged 100 rushing attempts in a full season.

Had Quinn and/or his replacement, Raheem Morris, been retained by the Atlanta Falcons for the 2022 NFL season, Hill very well may still be a member of the team right now, but he was ultimately allowed to walk in free agency a few months after the hiring of Arthur Smith, with the team instead opting to address their running game with ex-Carolina Panther Mike Davis and ex-New York Giant Wayne Gallman.

With Atlanta out, Hill took his services to Tennessee, but was ultimately placed on IR and eventually waived after suffering an unspecified injury for the Titans during the preseason that landed him on IR.

Fortunately, Hill was just working out for the New Orleans Saints earlier this month, so he appears to be healthy enough to re-take the field.

Is Hill a better running back than Jordan Howard? No. Even now, I wholeheartedly believe Howard can still be a vital cog in a balanced offensive attack, but by adding Hill to the fray, the Eagles would be securing themselves yet another young power rusher who could come in handy if the team suffers another injury.

Consider how Sanders’ injury absolutely decimated Nick Sirianni’s game plan versus the Las Vegas Raiders, it’s always better to have more depth and not use it than find yourself scouring practice squads for a contributor in Week 8.

The Philadelphia Eagles really, really, really, really, really need to run the ball as often as possible moving forward. As Reuben Frank pointed out on Twitter, Jalen Hurts performs exponentially better on drives where the Eagles run the ball at least two times versus when he’s tasked with being the entire offense, and I would imagine that stat would holdover no matter who is under center. While Brian Hill won’t magically fix the team’s run:pass discrepancy, he at least provides a second power rusher behind Jordan Howard should he get injured, which is a valuable use of a practice squad spot, all things considered.