Who Is The Back-Up RB If Buck Isn't Healthy?

[SunMo]

And where, in any of my posts did i root for anyone to get hurt?  Moron.

don't be upset because you are a fake fan and I called you on it

Did you support Doug Peterson as the QB or did you hope for an injury and McNabb stepping in?  I know i hoped for that Peterson injury....

[PhillyPhanInDC]

From PE.com. Back on topic.

Examining Depth Of Eagles' RB Situation 


August 24, 2005


How many running backs do the Eagles need? That's what Andy Reid and his staff must ponder. They want depth and they want versatility and they want production.
A three-headed monster at running back? It sure would be nice, it sure would be perfect and in light of the news that the Eagles will again be without Correll Buckhalter for the season, the team understands that several options are to be considered if the balance of a three-way RB situation is to be realized.

But do the Eagles need to go that route? Last year's running back picture featured Brian Westbrook, Dorsey Levens and Reno Mahe, not exactly your ideal "three-headed monster" rotation. In fact, the Eagles spread the ball around the entire season. Westbrook had 177 carries, Levens added 94 and Mahe chipped in with 23 carries. The team's third-leading rusher was Donovan McNabb, who ran 41 times for 220 yards.
 
The team averaged 4.4 yards per carry, again showing that when it wanted to run, it usually ran with success. The Super Bowl, of course, was a different story in that regard. The Eagles ran the ball only 17 times and Westbrook had 15 of those attempts for only 44 yards. More on that later...

What the Eagles have to weigh right now is what they have at running back versus what they can add with another player and, this is key, how they can make it all work within the 53-man roster.

If you were to take it purely, right now, as Westbrook/Levens/Mahe vs. Westbrook/Ryan Moats/Mahe, boy, that's a tough one. Levens was a terrific help last year and there is no denying his physical presence, his intelligence within the system and his all-around skills. But Moats is a special kind of talent. He is a change-of-pace back in the sense that he may have, as offensive coordinator Brad Childress pointed out on Tuesday, "a step on Brian in terms of top-end speed."

In other words, the kid is a potential game-breaking player.

The Eagles can go one of several ways with their backs and, trust me, they've considered their options long before now. Everyone knew that Buckhalter was a risk with his knees and the Eagles signed him to a low-risk, high-reward two-year contract in March. It is a shame that he is hurt again. Such a nice kid and such a talented player ...

But you have to move on and the Eagles know they can do so in the following ways:

1. Keep Things As They Are

They could go into the season with Westbrook, Moats and Mahe -- or Bruce Perry, if Perry beats out Mahe in these final two weeks of the preseason. At this point, Mahe gets the nod based on his versatility and the fact that he's had a fine preseason.

If the Eagles chose that route, they would have three smaller-sized backs. This group would present interesting matchup challenges for defenses, but it would be lacking in sheer jackhammer size. How many times could the Eagles run it up between the tackles in a tight formation with Westbrook and Moats? Who would be the go-to back in a third-and-1 situation? You can't pass all the time, can you? You have to keep the defenses honest, right?

What makes this a more viable option than you think is the 53-man roster. The Eagles are jammed. They have a bunch of young offensive linemen they'd love to keep. They are chock full of keepers at defensive tackle and defensive end. The punter situation, hey, that is going to come right down to the wire. What if Dirk Johnson isn't ready to punt when the 53-man roster must be set? What then? The linebacker depth chart is crammed and is going to be challenging to sift through.

So three backs on the 53-man roster? Maybe. Even if it is for a day or two or three or a week, even. The Eagles yo-yoed Levens early in the 2004 season for that very reason. They had other positions to fill to get to 53 on the active roster.

I would say it's likely the Eagles will add a back here. That is my guess. But it is not out of the realm of possibility that the Eagles goes with only three at the time the final cuts are made. Somehow, they have to fit about 57 worthy players into a 53-man roster. That won't be easy.

2. Add A Power Back Now

There are options out there. Levens is one, of course. He's a superbly-conditioned man who knows this system inside and out and who can jump on a flight and be here tomorrow and help in the game on Friday.

There are also a few other "names" on the streets. Tyrone Wheatley, a short-yardage specialist from his days in Oakland, is available. Eddie George has not yet been signed. Troy Hambrick was recently cut by the Cardinals.

The motive to make this move is to get somebody in here quickly, get him into the scheme and familiar with his surroundings and get him ready for the regular season.

The role of this back is to do some of the dirty work -- especially the pass protection in a single-back set to keep Donovan McNabb clean on the blitz. That's why Levens was so good last year. He blocked well. He was physical. He knew the protection schemes and just did not make mental mistakes.

I can't tell you if Wheatley is a good blocker or if George has ever been called on to block or whether Hambrick is capable of helping here. But don't think the big back is simply the grinder to get to the sticks on third and 1. No. He has to block. That's actually his primary responsibility in this role.

3. Wait, See How Things Shake Out

The cuts are coming in the next two weeks. The Eagles are on top of things. They know a lot more than we do as far as who is expected to come free.

So maybe the team waits. The coaches take a longer look at Mahe and Perry. They figure out how to use Moats, who is clearly a dynamic player with the ball in his hands. The one area in which he needs to improve -- experience is his only teacher here -- is the protection scheme. Bottom line: Can the Eagles rely on Moats in a single-back set to block for McNabb, to take on a charging linebacker? It's obviously better to have a bigger, stronger back in that role, but if Moats demonstrates he can handle the responsibility, then ...

In the end, the Eagles will cover themselves at running back. They didn't run the ball well in the Super Bowl for a number of reasons -- the Patriots battled at the line of scrimmage and plugged up holes and the game plan was to spread the field and throw the ball -- so the Eagles went into the off-season interested in addressing running back.

They signed Buckhalter, whom they hoped would be on the comeback trail. He was, until he took a hit in training camp and that troublesome right knee blew up on him and, well, now you wonder if he will ever play in the NFL again.

They drafted Moats in the third round, and he's clearly got all the talent in the world as a runner and a pass catcher. Is he ready to play a lot in his rookie season, or will he be like Westbrook was in 2002, when the Villanova rookie was a rare participant in the offense as he learned the nuances of the West Coast scheme?

This is not a situation where the Eagles have to, pardon the pun, rush into anything. They have options. They have time. They have a lot of things to consider, which makes the next move so interesting to watch.

[MURP]

This thread has run its course.   start a new one on RB's.