The Philadelphia Eagles saw not one but two players leave the team in the offseason and sign with their instate rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Veteran cornerback Darius Slay and running back Kenneth Gainwell both signed one-year deals with the Steelers, as they hope to bring their championship experience to the other side of the state.
Eagles fans weren’t shocked to see the team move on from Gainwell, especially since they had his replacement in Will Shipley. As for Gainwell, he joined a situation in Pittsburgh that doesn’t have a clear-cut RB1, allowing him to carve out a role.
On Sunday, we saw one of Gainwell’s new roles in the Steelers’ Week 1 matchup against the New York Jets.
Ex-Eagle Kenny Gainwell Makes Huge Play on Special Teams with Steelers
At the start of the fourth quarter, the former Eagles running back forced a fumble on kick return coverage, which allowed one of his Steelers teammates to recover the ball and give Pittsburgh a short field. And two plays later, Pittsburgh scored a touchdown, thanks in large part to the former Eagle’s play on special teams.
When Gainwell was with the Eagles, the veteran running back spent a little bit of time on special teams. Most of Gainwell’s usage came in the kick return game, as he had 27 returns over his four-year tenure.
Last season with the Eagles, Gainwell played a career-high 114 special teams snaps and had 18 kick returns. The veteran running back averaged 25.3 kick return yards per game in the regular season and 27.5 yards per game in the postseason.
Since he was the RB2 with the Eagles, Gainwell didn’t have to play much special teams, as he helped out in pass protection and also served as the change-of-pace running back.
However, with the Steelers, the veteran running back is more of an RB3 (according to the initial depth chart), so there will be a need for him to contribute in other ways, such as special teams.
Eagles fans likely didn’t know that Gainwell had learned the peanut punch, which is utilized by defensive backs. But they’re happy to see that the veteran, who was a fan favorite and always played hard when he was on the field.