Donnel Pumphrey is ahead of Wendell Smallwood on Eagles depth chart
Training camp for the Philadelphia Eagles has taken an interesting turn as Wendell Smallwood is now looking up at Donnel Pumprhrey on the depth chart.
Once upon a time, following a few injuries, Wendell Smallwood was at the top of the depth chart for the Philadelphia Eagles. Then, he got injured. Less than one year later, the Eagles have added LeGarrette Blount via the free agent market and Donnel Pumphrey thanks to the 2017 NFL Draft. Things have changed in a hurry to say the least.
Blount figures to get the bulk of the carries. If we don’t know anything else about head coach Doug Pederson, we know he tends to lean toward guys who are versatile. With Darren Sproles figured to be plugged in at the 3rd-down running back spot, Smallwood, a second year veteran, appears to be more of an afterthought. When the head coach says Smallwood will have “a role” in the offense, it doesn’t appear he’s on the forefront of the team’s plans.
Pumphrey’s getting a ton of looks.
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Now, thanks to the installation of something called “The Pony formation”, seemingly another attempt by the coaches to get Pumphrey on the field as much as possible, it would seem as though Smallwood’s slipped even further in the coach’s thinking.
Pumphrey was on the field a lot more than Smallwood during spring practice, and it’s been the same story throughout the first few days of training camp. We’ve now learned that Pumphrey is a little more astute at running between the tackles than we originally believed.
That, coupled with the fact that Pumphrey may be the better receiver, gives coaches another reason to slot him a little higher on the depth chart than Smallwood. Last year’s 5th-round selection may be approaching the bottom of the depth chart as camp continues to roll on.