Philadelphia Eagles: Wendell Smallwood Fits The Offense Well
By Jeremy Klump
In the fifth round of the 2016 NFL, with pick No. 153, the Philadelphia Eagles selected former West Virginia running back, Wendell Smallwood.
No matter who the Philadelphia Eagles would have taken with their first pick in the fifth round, there would be some criticism involved.
They decided to go with former West Virginia running back, Wendell Smallwood.
The obvious argument is that there were better players available, and in some peoples eyes, there were better running backs available. Regardless of what is said, Smallwood is officially part of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Not only will people argue they should’ve drafted a different player with this pick, Smallwood has some interesting red flags off of the field that many people will talk about.
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NFL.com had this to say about his off the field incident:
"“…he nearly was untracked in the following offseason after being arrested on a warrant for a witness tampering charge. Smallwood was accused of telling someone to recant their statement accusing one of his friends in a fatal shooting case. The charges were officially dropped when his friend pleaded guilty in the murder case, allowing Smallwood to continue his football career.”"
That is certainly something the Eagles had to make sure they were okay with and obviously they were.
NFL Spin Zone contributor Dan Thomas was very high on Smallwood and he highlighted him on episode seven of Man-to-Man Coverage, which is NFL Spin Zone’s podcast.
Thomas had this to say about Smallwood.
"“Led the Big 12 in rushing last season. Now, he is not a huge guy, but he is a nice little receiving threat out of the backfield. I think that ability alone is going to get him some early looks on third downs and don’t forget as a freshman a West Virginia he return 30 kickoffs for the Mountaineers. So, he might be able to sneak onto special teams as a kick returner on day one and then earn some playing time on offense for his pass catching abilities.”"
Looking at how Smallwood fits with the Eagles, especially off of what Thomas had to say, it is easy to see why he was the pick. There will be a ton of people who will tell you why the Eagles shouldn’t have drafted him, but I will tell you why they did.
Smallwood fits the Eagles new offense perfectly. Look at what offensive coordinator Frank Reich was able to do with Danny Woodehad in San Diego. Woodhead had the most targets of his career, 106, and also set career highs in receptions (80), receiving yards (755) and touchdown grabs (6).
That is the exact role Smallwood will play in the Eagles offense. Smallwood is a weapon out of the backfield and has great hands for a running back. Smallwood also is great in pass protection so he can be trusted on third downs.
He also rushed for 1,519 yards and nine touchdowns in 2015, so he is more than capable of picking up first downs running the ball as well.
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Many people may not like the pick, but once they see how Smallwood fits into the offense, they will change their mind.