The Eagles made eight selections during the 2016 NFL Draft and a fifth-round pick may have the most impact on the team's success in 2016.
With Carson Wentz seemingly heading to the bench for a year of learning and the Eagles lone Day 2 pick, Isaac Seumalo preparing for a position battle at left guard, running back Wendell Smallwood is in a position to contribute to Doug Pederson's offense from day one, considering the Eagles current stable of running backs.
Ryan Mathews is injury prone and the duo of Darren Sproles and Kenjon Barner don't have the skillset of a three-down NFL running back. However, in his career at West Virginia, Smallwood has shown the ability to do all the things that Pederson could ask of his newest running back.
Running
Smallwood is a very decisive runner. In West Virginia's air raid offense, he often benefited from the spread formations and used his quickness to find big holes and exploit them, like on this touchdown run from a game against Oklahoma State last year:
It's hard to watch that run and not think about how well Smallwood would have fit into Chip Kelly's spread-to-run offense. But the quickness with which Smallwood hits the hole is impressive and is something that will make or break his NFL career. He does not possess the physicality of most backs and will have to use his acceleration in order to elude tacklers, especially around the line of scrimmage.
In the open field, Smallwood possesses good vision, but is a bit of a straight-line runner. Despite his quickness, he rarely jukes defenders in the open field. He instead uses his speed to out-run them, something that he will not be able to do against the faster competition in the NFL.
Catching
If Pederson's offense is anything like his mentor's, there will be a lot of opportunities for the Eagles running backs to catch the ball out of the backfield. Andy Reid used screens and swing passes in order to get the ball to Brian Westbrook in open space where he could use his quickness to pick up chunks of yards.
While Sproles and Barner are natural receivers, Mathews possesses hands of stone, which limits his versatility in a pass-heavy scheme. Coming out of the air raid offense, Smallwood had 68 catches for 618 yards during his college career. His hands are very soft, as evident on this catch during a game against Baylor:
Smallwood is able to adjust to a ball that is thrown slightly high and tucks it away immediately before fending off a tackler. The running back was featured on a lot of screen passes for the Mountaineers in his career and if he is able to catch the ball with a similar efficiency for the Eagles, he could find himself on the field over Mathews on passing downs.
Blocking
Despite his slight frame, Smallwood is a willing blocker, often to a fault. When tasked with blocking in pass protection, Smallwood has a tendency to get overzealous and leave home in search of contact. I have no problem with that aggressiveness and he will become more aware of his surroundings with experience.
Where I truly enjoy to watch Smallwood is when he is a lead blocker. His aggressiveness comes in handy when he is out in the open field, looking for someone to lock horns with. Like on this run taken from the Oklahoma State game:
Smallwood is able to get out in front of the runner and undercut a linebacker to help the back pick up a gain of six yards. Once again, his slight frame may make it harder for him to block the athletes of the NFL. But his willingness to block and his understanding of how to take down larger opponents are a good sign that he can be a true, three down back in the NFL.
Tucker Bagley is a columnist for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Twitter @tbagley515.
