By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Much like what happened to the Philadelphia Eagles after their 2014 season, the Buffalo Bills organization will probably see a substantial overhaul after their 2016 season concludes. Unlike what happened with the Eagles after the 2014 season, LeSean McCoy is unlikely to be one of the casualties of a disappointing season and organizational changes this time.
McCoy entered Saturday's matchup with the Dolphins averaging a career high 5.5 yards-per-carry, having totaled 1,129 yards in 13 games. Though the Bills lost in overtime to the Dolphins, McCoy ran for 128 yards on 24 carries. He also added five catches onto the 44 he entered the day with, tacking on 17 more yards to the 333 yards he already accumulated. In short, reports of the Eagles' all-time leading rusher's demise after an injury-riddled first season in Buffalo were greatly exaggerated.
Still just 28, it's hard to not imagine what Carson Wentz and the Eagles could have done with McCoy. Ryan Mathews, Wendell Smallwood and Darren Sproles were each individually effective at times during the 2016 season, but injuries and an ever-changing offensive line prevented the unit from being consistently effective. Not only did that leave the rookie Wentz without a strong running-game to lean on, but because of the team's glaring lack of receiving talent, it often left him without talent to lean on period.
Even still, Wentz flashed enough potential to make talent evaluators around the league rave about his elite potential. If he had been surrounded by a borderline Hall of Fame back in McCoy, who also is an effective receiving weapon, Wentz would have been set up to both lead the Eagles to a better season and develop at a more rapid pace. Rookie head coach and play-caller Doug Pederson also would have been able to be more creative with a weapon like McCoy, lessening the burden placed on Wentz.
Would the Eagles have been a playoff team in 2016 with McCoy? It's hard to say exactly, but they certainly would have been closer to being seriously in contention. If McCoy was playing against Detroit, the Eagles probably would have won because the Ryan Mathews fumble wouldn't have happened. Heck, the Eagles may have never signed Mathews. Of the five other games that the Eagles lost by seven points or less, it's fair to assume McCoy's talent alone may have swayed the fate of a game or two in the Eagles' direction.
It should be noted that McCoy was traded for linebacker Kiko Alonso. Alonso, after just one season in Philadelphia, was traded to the Miami Dolphins as part of a major trade that allowed the Eagles to move up from the No. 13 pick to the No. 8 pick in this past NFL Draft. Eagles vice president of football operations Howie Roseman then parlayed the No. 8 pick into the No. 2 pick as part of an even bigger trade with the Cleveland Browns, ultimately using that pick to select Wentz.
So technically speaking, moving McCoy indirectly helped the Eagles to land what may ultimately be their franchise quarterback. Still, it's fair to wonder if the Eagles had retained McCoy and managed to still land Wentz — which probably wouldn't have been impossible — how the team would have performed in 2016, and what they would have been set up to do in 2017.
