Running back is low on the Eagles’ list of offseason priorities heading into the free-agency signing period.
They have a shiny new Maserati in their backfield in 2019 second-round pick Miles Sanders, who rushed for 818 yards and notched 1,327 yards from scrimmage as a rookie, and a promising practice-squad find in 5-foot-6, 203-pound Boston Scott.
But at some point in the next couple of months, they’ll need to add a third running back, most likely a veteran.
It could be Jordan Howard, who was terrific last year until an early-November neck/shoulder injury derailed his season. He is one of 16 Eagles players who will be unrestricted free agents on Wednesday.
Or it could be someone else, like Devonta Freeman, who was released by the Falcons on Monday, or the 49ers’ Matt Breida, a restricted free agent who certainly would address the Eagles’ need for speed.
Howard, who was acquired by the Eagles in a trade with Chicago last March, rushed for 525 yards in the first nine games before suffering a stinger that sidelined him for two months.
He returned in Week 17 but played just one snap. He didn’t play at all in the Eagles’ 17-9 playoff loss to the Seahawks.
Howard was one of the league’s top first-down rushers before he got hurt, averaging 4.49 yards per carry. For all of Sanders’ positives last season, he averaged just 3.77 yards per carry on first down.
Freeman is an interesting option. He just turned 28 on Sunday. He’s a two-time Pro Bowler with a 4.69 career first-down rushing average.
But he’s also a guy who’s been hurt a lot the last couple of years. And Eagles general manager Howie Roseman insists his days of taking chances on players with shaky injury histories are over.
“What we’ve learned from the last couple of years is that hope isn’t a strategy,’’ Roseman said last month at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. “As we look to this offseason, the amount of resources we put to those types of guys [with injuries] will be very little.’’
Freeman had back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons in 2015-16 and was a key member of the Falcons’ 2016 Super Bowl team. But he missed 14 games in 2018 and eventually underwent season-ending core muscle surgery, and played with a foot injury last season and averaged a career-low 3.6 yards per carry.
Breida is an intriguing possibility. The 5-10, 190-pounder out of Georgia Southern has sub-4.4 speed and reached 22.30 mph on an 83-yard touchdown run against the Browns last year, which was the fastest speed by an NFL ballcarrier in three years.
He played in 13 games last year and averaged 5.1 yards per carry. But he had just 14 carries in the Niners’ last four regular-season games and fell to third on the depth chart behind former Eagles practice-squad player Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman. Breida didn’t play a single offensive snap in the Niners’ Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs.
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March 17, 2020 at 04:04PM
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In search of a third running back for the Eagles - The Philadelphia Inquirer
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