Philadelphia Eagles: Corey Clement isn’t quite out of the woods yet
By Matt Giraldi
Corey Clement has had a whirlwind of an NFL experience thus far, and the next eight days will likely be the wildest experience to date.
When Corey Clement went undrafted back in April, it came as a surprise to some. Clement rushed for 1,375 yards and 15 touchdowns last season for the Wisconsin Badgers.
After the Philadelphia Eagles signed him as an undrafted free agent, speculation ran rampant that Clement might serve useful in the preseason. After all, the Eagles have had a rich history recently of preseason star running backs.
Over the past five seasons, the Eagles have not devoted much draft capital towards the running back position. In fact, Donnel Pumphrey was the Eagles’ highest drafted running back since LeSean McCoy. This, of course, led many fans and pundits to label Pumphrey as a “roster lock.”
From Henry Josey to Raheem Mostert, the Eagles have seemingly solved their running back issues year after year. Unfortunately, neither made the 53-man roster after breakthrough preseason performances. The common denominator among all of them was the lack of resources required to acquire them in the first place. Then…along came Clement.
Live Feed
Raising Zona
Pumphrey struggled. Clement shined. Simplicity is a beautiful thing. When the pads came on and the games began to “count”, one player played like an undrafted free agent, while the other raised more questions than he answered.
For both Clement and Pumphrey however, the journey to the NFL is just beginning. When the Eagles travel to play the Washington Redskins in one week, neither player will be assured of a roster spot.
The reason is that approximately 1,184 players were released yesterday. Among the aforementioned players, there were some interesting names at running back. Perhaps more importantly, there were interesting names at other positions. Particularly, positions of need for the Eagles.
Having five running backs on the roster is an uncommon luxury in the NFL. For an Eagles team lacking depth along the offensive line and in the secondary, Clement’s roster spot is contingent on numerous factors.
Next: Introducing the Eagles' 53-man roster
For the time being though, Clement being on the 53-man roster is cause for celebration. Head coach Doug Pederson and his coaching staff were able to show an ability to look past draft capital and reward players that performed admirably. There’s still a realistic chance that Clement has shown all he’ll ever show in an Eagles uniform. Then again, there’s also a chance that yesterday marked the first of many successes Clement will achieve in the NFL. The most logical guess is that it’s the latter.