Wendell Smallwood

Smallwood played 16 games for the first time in his three-year career last season and had his most productive campaign, but the stats were still fairly modest. After producing 91 scrimmage yards and a TD in Week 3, he never topped 80 yards again, seeing double-digit touches only twice after a Week 9 bye. His lack of size or standout athleticism mark him as purely a depth RB, and while his skills as a receiver might make him the best option to take on Darren Sproles' third-down snaps, the front office made significant upgrades to the depth chart in trading for Jordan Howard and using a second-round pick on Miles Sanders. Smallwood will need a big training camp just to earn a roster spot, and his workload will depend on the performance and health of his competition more so than his own performance.

Smallwood saw between 13 and 43 snaps in his first six games of 2017, but the acquisition of Jay Ajayi prior to Week 9 rendered the 24-year-old moot, and he spent virtually the rest of the season on the inactive list. In 2018, he will have to stand out in the preseason compared to Donnel Pumphrey, Matt Jones and undrafted free agent Josh Adams for the fourth and likely final running back spot on the Eagles roster. While coach Doug Pederson has been very public this offseason in his support for Smallwood, his lack of size compared to Jones and Adams may be what costs the West Virginia product in the end, as the team has no goal-line masher type now that LeGarrette Blount split for Detroit.

A fifth-round pick in 2016, Smallwood doesn't have ideal size for a lead back at 5-10, 208 pounds, but in a backfield that includes the undersized Darren Sproles and Donnel Pumphrey, that makes him a giant. Smallwood doesn't have any one standout trait as a runner, but he's shown flashes of good vision and speed, as well as a complete package of third-down skills. He got few chances to display those abilities as a rookie behind Sproles and the oft-injured Ryan Mathews, and ended the season on IR due to a knee injury of his own. With Mathews seemingly on his way out and Sproles not getting any younger, Smallwood could end up seeing the largest share of the Eagles' backfield touches in 2017. A heavy workload still seems unlikely, barring an injury to free-agent addition LeGarrette Blount.

The Eagles snagged Smallwood in the fifth round of the draft, but they might need him sooner rather than later. Starter Ryan Mathews has been injury-prone for the majority of his career, while Darren Sproles enters an age-33 season and wasn't happy during the spring. Smallwood led the Big 12 in rushing as a junior— playing bigger than his 5-11, 201-pound frame — and was a capable receiver, though his average catch fell significantly his final year. The Eagles offense figures to have a number of moving and variable parts as the Doug Pederson era begins; Smallwood could be anywhere from No. 2 to No. 4 when the season starts. But if you're in the mood to fade Mathews, especially in a long-term format, there's plenty to like with Smallwood.