Eagles Camp Preview: The RBs - Committee or Bell Cow?

PHILADELPHIA - Most of the offseason attrition for the Philadelphia Eagles came on the defensive side of the football. 

Nine of the 11 2022-23 Eagles starters on offense are returning to the reigning NFC Champions. The highest-profile exit was Pro Bowl running back Miles Sanders, who left in free agency to reunite with Duce Staley for the Carolina Panthers.

By all accounts, Sanders wanted to stay in Philadelphia and even lobbied to do so in public but the Eagles, like most of the NFL, have devalued the running back position and were never going near the $6.25 million AAV deal Sanders signed with the Panthers, the most at the position for those who actually hit the market.

General manager Howie Roseman instead built an entire running back room for about that same cost it would have been to keep Sanders by bringing in the talented but oft-injured Rashad Penny on a prove-it deal in free agency, and trading for Philadelphia native D’Andre Swift on Day 3 of the draft to join the returning Kenny Gainwell and Boston Scott.

Instead of having one lead back to replace Sanders’ 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, the smart money is on a committee approach featuring Penny, Swift, and Gainwell.

In the spring, the coaching staff defaulted to the returning Scott, 28, and Gainwell, 24, when it came to first-team reps but that’s expected to change over the summer as Penny, a 2018 first-round pick in Seattle, and Swift, the No. 35 overall pick in the 2020 draft with Detroit, get more integrated into the system.

Few will question Penny’s ability as a runner. He’s still just 27 and features an imposing combination of power and speed on a 5-foot-11, 220-pound frame but he was limited to just 38 of a potential 66 games with the Seahawks due to a host of injuries, the most serious being a torn ACL and last season’s broken fibula.

"It's tough," Penny admitted when asked about his injury history. "... That's like the past and I'm looking way far ahead of that. This is really big for me. I'm healthy now. I'm really ready to go."

The best-case scenario would be for Penny and Swift, 24, to split most of the workload but coach Nick Sirianni has generally defaulted to the hot hand in the past.

Swift has had his own issues staying on the field and has missed four games in each of his first three seasons with the Lions, topping out at just 617 rushing yards. His receiving ability – 156 receptions in three seasons – is top-notch, however, and offers a new wrinkle to what was already an explosive offense.

Swift ran for a career-best 144 yards on 15 carries against the Eagles in Week 1 of last season.

“He had some unbelievable runs against us last year, where you look at each other like man, that guy is hard to tackle,” Sirianni said. “So, he has the ability to make you miss and also accelerate through the hole, which will serve us well in some of the draws that we run and some of the RPOs that we run.”

Gainwell was a bit of a disappointment in his second NFL season until coming on late in the campaign when Sanders was banged up with a knee injury. At 5-8 and 201 pounds, Gainwell has some size issues but has proven to be a tough runner inside the tackles and is a capable receiver like Swift.

Scott is more of the utility man, who always answers the bell if his number is called especially when the New York Giants are on the schedule.

The two developmental prospects are Trey Sermon, a waiver-wire pickup from San Francisco that the Eagles carried for the entire 2022-23 campaign, and former Oklahoma standout Kennedy Brooks.

Depth Chart: RB1 Rashaad Penny; RB2 D’Andre Swift; RB3 Kenny Gainwell; RB4 Boston Scott; RB5 Trey Sermon; RB6 Kennedy Brooks

WHAT’S CHANGED: Sanders is out, essentially replaced by the duo of Penny and Swift.

COACHING: The hard-nosed Jemal Singleton is the team’s running backs coach and assistant head coach. Known for his powerful punching of the football with a boxing glove during ball-security drills, Singleton's tutelage helped Sanders to his best season in 2022 and Philadelphia has ranked first in the NFL in both rushing yards per game (153.6) and rushing touchdowns (57) since Singleton arrived, although the presence of quarterback Jalen Hurts has certainly bolstered those numbers. This time around it will be Singleton’s job to define the roles to get the most out of a committee.

THE CEILING: There is a narrative that the Eagles' offensive line is so good and the threat of Hurts pulling the football in the RPO game manipulates the spacing so effectively that [insert running back name] could be effective running the football in Philadelphia. In many ways, comparing this season to what Sanders did last season will either validate that thesis or prove Sanders wasn’t just a placeholder. The plan is for the Eagles’ running back room to be even better and more well-rounded for a cheaper price.

THE LONGSHOT: Sermon, 24, is a player that Sirianni brought up unprompted on a couple of occasions in the offseason. A 49ers’ third-round pick who started his college career at Oklahoma with Hurts before finishing at Ohio State, Sermon showed some signs in limited work against Jacksonville last season and he should get plenty of opportunities over the summer to break through.

“Trey Sermon, I’m really excited about him,” Sirianni said. “... “Trey didn’t get an opportunity to showcase his talents except for that game against Jacksonville [last season] ... but I can’t tell you how many times at practice he made a cut or you just saw him in his pads or he made a play on a screen or whatever it was and you’re like, ‘Man, this guy has a chance to be really good.”

WHO STAYS/GOES: The only certainties are Swift, who is in the final year of his rookie deal, and Gainwell. The potential x-factor is Sermon making a push at the final 53, something that could affect Penny and/or Scott. 

If Penny stays healthy there is little doubt that he’s the best pure runner on the roster but he was only guaranteed $600,000 so a poor summer could have the Eagles turning the page quickly. Meanwhile, Scott has a limited ceiling so he will always be threatened by younger, less-expensive talent. An ace in the hole for Scott, however, is that he is the team’s best kick returner.

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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen