Let’s Talk RBs

Posted: December 23rd, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 2 Comments »

Some big news on Saturday.

That is huge news. Houston is fourth in the NFL in rushing attempts. They love to run the ball. Now they’ll be playing a desperate Eagles team without their workhorse and star RB.

Instead of feeding the ball to Miller, those touches will now go to Alfred Blue. Miller averages 4.8 yards per carry. Blue is down at 3.3 ypc. That’s a significant difference. The Texans will still run the ball, but they aren’t likely to have big plays come out of the run game. Miller has 4.4 speed. Blue ran 4.63 at the Combine. That difference shows up on tape.

This doesn’t mean the Eagles can now relax. They’ll still have their work cut out for them, as I covered in my game preview for PE.com. Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins still scare the heck out of me.

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It will be a good day if the Eagles beat the Texans on Sunday.

It will be great if the Lions can beat the Vikings and the Bucs can upset the Cowboys.

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Question…why does everyone hate Wendell Smallwood?

He has proven to be an effective role player in his career. Is he someone you want to feed the ball to on a regular basis? No. But he belongs in the league and has done some good things for the Eagles this year.

Doug Pederson gave him a Red Zone carry a couple of weeks ago and everyone ripped Pederson. How the hell could he use Smallwood in that situation? Doesn’t he know Smallwood sucks?

Smallwood is about 5-10, 215. He is a physical runner for his size. He stays behind his pads and can break some tackles. Smallwood has a good burst. He lacks top speed in the open field and that’s why he’s not going to deliver big plays. Smallwood is a north-south runner and that is part of the reason he can be effective in the Red Zone. He doesn’t look for daylight. Smallwood runs where he was told to run.

On the flip side, Josh Adams has emerged as a good RB for the Eagles.

Adams averages 4.5 yards per carry and has shown the ability to deliver big plays. He’s got four carries of 20 or more yards despite only having 98 carries this year.

Adams doesn’t look like someone you want starting, but he’s shown the potential to be an excellent part of a rotation. It is possible that he could develop into a starting-level RB.

One problem for Adams, he has not converted a 3rd or 4th & 1 opportunity this year. Adams is a daylight runner. He likes to get the ball and read his blocks, looking for where to run. You can’t do that in short yardage. You must attack the line of scrimmage.

No Jay Ajayi. No Corey Clement. But the Eagles do have Adams and Smallwood. That can be an effective duo. If Darren Sproles can take on an even bigger role, that can be a solid group of RBs.

There’s also the new guy, Boston Scott. We’ll have to wait and see what he can do (my guess…combination of Barry Sanders, Jim Brown and Donnel Pumphrey).

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2 Comments on “Let’s Talk RBs”

  1. 1 Eagles News: Nick Foles: “I want Carson Wentz to succeed. I want him to play” - Bleeding Green Nation | admin said at 11:55 AM on December 23rd, 2018:

    […] Let’s Talk RBs – Iggles BlitzJosh Adams averages 4.5 yards per carry and has shown the ability to deliver big plays. He’s got four carries of 20 or more yards despite only having 98 carries this year. Adams doesn’t look like someone you want starting, but he’s shown the potential to be an excellent part of a rotation. It is possible that he could develop into a starting-level RB. One problem for Adams, he has not converted a 3rd or 4th & 1 opportunity this year. Adams is a daylight runner. He likes to get the ball and read his blocks, looking for where to run. You can’t do that in short yardage. You must attack the line of scrimmage. […]

  2. 2 Eagles News: Nick Foles: “I want Carson Wentz to succeed. I want him to play” - Bleeding Green Nation | World News Network said at 2:35 PM on December 23rd, 2018:

    […] Let’s Talk RBs – Iggles BlitzJosh Adams averages 4.5 yards per carry and has shown the ability to deliver big plays. He’s got four carries of 20 or more yards despite only having 98 carries this year. Adams doesn’t look like someone you want starting, but he’s shown the potential to be an excellent part of a rotation. It is possible that he could develop into a starting-level RB. One problem for Adams, he has not converted a 3rd or 4th & 1 opportunity this year. Adams is a daylight runner. He likes to get the ball and read his blocks, looking for where to run. You can’t do that in short yardage. You must attack the line of scrimmage. […]