Since Doug Pederson took over as the Philadelphia Eagles coach, it's been a running back by committee approach and don't expect that to change this year. Zack Rosenblatt of NJ.com reports that even with a trade for Jordan Howard and drafting Miles Sanders in the second round, the same running back by committee will be the approach.
“This shouldn’t come as a major surprise, as this — a running back-by-committee approach — is the philosophy the Eagles have held since Doug Pederson replaced Chip Kelly. There’s no bellcow, and don’t expect that to change anytime soon, even with the Eagles trading for Jordan Howard and using a second-round pick on Miles Sanders. Maybe that could change in 2020 or later, but it’s not likely to happen in 2019.”
Howard is used to sharing the backfield as he did with Tarik Cohen with the Chicago Bears. Sanders is a rookie, and the expectation is that he will be just a role player to start, but maybe in the next couple of years, he can become the true No. 1 back.
Running backs coach Duce Staley thinks the competition that the running back room has right now is going to help everyone in the room.
“[It's] not complicated,” Staley, the Eagles running backs coach, said on Monday. “Any time you have competition in a room those guys embrace it. I love it being a coach, because you've got a lot of guys that got to keep it turned on, as we say. So, they're all competing against one another. It's all positive. Good energy in the room.”
Having too many running backs is a good problem to have, and the hope is going forward, it will be a real strength of the team.
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