The Eagles Running Back Room

[Shoreline Steamers]

Everyone who watched the entire game knows there were monster holes for Swift to run through all night. Philly's line was destroying the Vikes in the run game. That said, he did have good burst, and there were definitely a few runs where he made great decisions to abandon the design of the run and take it elsewhere for larger chunk gains.

Agree with those who believe this will be a bit of a frustrating backfield for fantasy. They'll use all healthy RB's weekly to some extent and likely ride the "hot hand" as long as that doesn't mean overworking any one RB. This will serve Philly very well in terms of NLF ball, but be frustrating for our hobby. Whose turn will it be to shoulder the load in Week 3?

One thing from last night I did find interesting about Philly's play calling. They initially looked to have more pass/run balance, but I believe it was early in the 2nd quarter when they said, "Screw it!" and starting jamming the ball down the Vikes throats repeatedly to great success. The rest of the way they were very run-heavy.

And, that undoubtedly set up the deep shots to Smith, and Brown (should have been P.I.). I'm wondering if we'll see more of this approach from the Eagles moving forward, until a team shows they're able to stop it? When the majority of teams are around 60/40% pass-run, and have built their defenses around those numbers, a team doing the opposite with quality personnel could make some waves.

[Jigga94]

Everyone who watched the entire game knows there were monster holes for Swift to run through all night. Philly's line was destroying the Vikes in the run game. That said, he did have good burst, and there were definitely a few runs where he made great decisions to abandon the design of the run and take it elsewhere for larger chunk gains.

Agree with those who believe this will be a bit of a frustrating backfield for fantasy. They'll use all healthy RB's weekly to some extent and likely ride the "hot hand" as long as that doesn't mean overworking any one RB. This will serve Philly very well in terms of NLF ball, but be frustrating for our hobby. Whose turn will it be to shoulder the load in Week 3?

One thing from last night I did find interesting about Philly's play calling. They initially looked to have more pass/run balance, but I believe it was early in the 2nd quarter when they said, "Screw it!" and starting jamming the ball down the Vikes throats repeatedly to great success. The rest of the way they were very run-heavy.

And, that undoubtedly set up the deep shots to Smith, and Brown (should have been P.I.). I'm wondering if we'll see more of this approach from the Eagles moving forward, until a team shows they're able to stop it? When the majority of teams are around 60/40% pass-run, and have built their defenses around those numbers, a team doing the opposite with quality personnel could make some waves.

100% agree. They were trying to force the passes early, but as soon as they committed to the run, it was over. Huge holes. Both Swift and Scott looked good. Penny, not so much

[FantasyFreak]

Everyone who watched the entire game knows there were monster holes for Swift to run through all night. Philly's line was destroying the Vikes in the run game. That said, he did have good burst, and there were definitely a few runs where he made great decisions to abandon the design of the run and take it elsewhere for larger chunk gains.

Agree with those who believe this will be a bit of a frustrating backfield for fantasy. They'll use all healthy RB's weekly to some extent and likely ride the "hot hand" as long as that doesn't mean overworking any one RB. This will serve Philly very well in terms of NLF ball, but be frustrating for our hobby. Whose turn will it be to shoulder the load in Week 3?

One thing from last night I did find interesting about Philly's play calling. They initially looked to have more pass/run balance, but I believe it was early in the 2nd quarter when they said, "Screw it!" and starting jamming the ball down the Vikes throats repeatedly to great success. The rest of the way they were very run-heavy.

And, that undoubtedly set up the deep shots to Smith, and Brown (should have been P.I.). I'm wondering if we'll see more of this approach from the Eagles moving forward, until a team shows they're able to stop it? When the majority of teams are around 60/40% pass-run, and have built their defenses around those numbers, a team doing the opposite with quality personnel could make some waves.

100% agree. They were trying to force the passes early, but as soon as they committed to the run, it was over. Huge holes. Both Swift and Scott looked good. Penny, not so much

Yep. Scott in concussion protocol, or I think he'd have gotten more run. Hopefully he can be back next game, with the 10 days in between. I hope you started Swift, if you had him, would be ashamed to miss out on his career game if you held this long. Swift is talented, and getting lanes that size really maximize it, because he doesn't have to think, and his deficiencies as an interior runner don't matter. He's definitely a guy that will compliment this offense, as long as he's healthy.

I still think this is going to be a committee/hot hand approach, but undoubtedly Swift put himself at the top of the pecking order for now.

[ericanadian]

It was legit. Per Next Gen Stats:

D'Andre Swift ran for a career-high 175 yards and a TD on 28 carries in his first start for the Eagles (+41 rushing yards over expected).

Swift recorded the 8th-highest success rate (64.3%) by any player with 25+ carries in a game since 2016.

0 tackles for loss too.

So he was expected to get 134 yards and he had 133 yards before contact. Ok

0 tackles for loss. Again, given the yards before contact, not exactly surprising and not necessarily saying anything about Swift vs the OLine/defense.

Success rate is interesting. But I’m not sure what that is. Is this strictly a RB stat? Or related to OLine as well?

I’m not trying to say Swift wasn’t good. I’m just trying to take the game with a grain of salt given how bad that run defense was last night.

I don’t really love either stat to be honest. Yards after contact, as you’re using it, assumes the running back has no influence in how he evades the defense. When you cut back and avoid contact when the play was designed for you to continue and run into contact, the running back deserves some credit for making the correct decision there.

Expected yards is way too opinion based for me. I know they try to chart it out like in baseball, but there are way too few plays and way too many variables for it to be effective in my view.

[FantasyFreak]

It was legit. Per Next Gen Stats:

D'Andre Swift ran for a career-high 175 yards and a TD on 28 carries in his first start for the Eagles (+41 rushing yards over expected).

Swift recorded the 8th-highest success rate (64.3%) by any player with 25+ carries in a game since 2016.

0 tackles for loss too.

So he was expected to get 134 yards and he had 133 yards before contact. Ok

0 tackles for loss. Again, given the yards before contact, not exactly surprising and not necessarily saying anything about Swift vs the OLine/defense.

Success rate is interesting. But I’m not sure what that is. Is this strictly a RB stat? Or related to OLine as well?

I’m not trying to say Swift wasn’t good. I’m just trying to take the game with a grain of salt given how bad that run defense was last night.

I don’t really love either stat to be honest. Yards after contact, as you’re using it, assumes the running back has no influence in how he evades the defense. When you cut back and avoid contact when the play was designed for you to continue and run into contact, the running back deserves some credit for making the correct decision there.

Expected yards is way too opinion based for me. I know they try to chart it out like in baseball, but there are way too few plays and way too many variables for it to be effective in my view.

Agreed.

[guernseygambler]

His run that I thought was most impressive was called back on a holding call. He was two .5 yards more on carries away from a 3 TD game...

[timeEd32]

It is true that the Eagles line was dominant. It is also true that Swift had some juice to him last night and made some good runs. He definitely earned himself some extra touches last night, but if healthy Gainwell is still going to be in the mix.

I think the clearest takeaway through two weeks is that Penny is the clear #4. It took injuries to Gainwell and Scott for him to get on the field.

[moishetreats]

So... Philly has a dominant offensive line and it's blowing up holes for its RBs. And we're holding that *against* Swift??

[killer_of_giants]

So... Philly has a dominant offensive line and it's blowing up holes for its RBs. And we're holding that *against* Swift??

you think he'll average 175 yards per game?
no one is holding that against swift. ffs!

[cazzie33]

So... Philly has a dominant offensive line and it's blowing up holes for its RBs. And we're holding that *against* Swift??

Had a dominant line in Detroit blowing up holes … difference was if there was 133 yds blocked for / before contact in Detroit Jamaal Williams got you 134 yds ( and a TD or two) . Lions agreed and moved on from JW to David Montgomery. Saying Swift was “soft” was held against him in Detroit so they moved on to Gibbs. Not holding that against Detroit but certainly I never held it against Swift that they never rode him to see what he could do when healthy. Glad to see both situations having success early

[mild]

100% agree. They were trying to force the passes early, but as soon as they committed to the run, it was over. Huge holes. Both Swift and Scott looked good. Penny, not so much

Nate Tice was saying in their recap that the Vikings were coming out playing a 3-3-5 Zone defense on the All-22. (ie. flooding 5 defensive backs in a zone deep, all game)

(Apparently the Prime Vision options are pretty good if you just want to watch the game in All 22 from the jump)

That's as sheer a commitment to saying "please run on us" as you'll see in the league. They were adamant that they weren't going to let Hurts pass deep. Once Brian Johnson found the "run play" section of his playcalling sheet, it was over.

[Mike11]

No bump after Swift goes 16 for 130, I’m disappointed. Swifts 308 rushing yards are the second most of any rb through 3 weeks.

[BellCow]

The question now is whether anyone is willing to buy him as a win now piece and if we can expect long term value

[Prison_Mike]

The question now is whether anyone is willing to buy him as a win now piece and if we can expect long term value

If someone comes knocking with any 1st, I'll likely take it. Anything less I'll probably hold. If he continues to put up these numbers, he'll be a strong hold on any roster short of an early/mid 1st.

As for the long-term value, who knows? But I'd be a bit cautious. He's an UFA after this season and I think PHI is too smart of an organization to pay him big money to stick around. He has such a fantasy-friendly skillset that he'll always have a place on my roster, but if someone overvalues the situation, I'll be willing to part

[Mike11]

Looks to me like the guy when there aren’t many reliable guys this year.