Philadelphia Eagles: More Corey Clement or Josh Adams moving forward?

The Philadelphia Eagles decided not to trade for a running back before the deadline. Now, should they run with more Corey Clement or Josh Adams?

The 2018 NFL season has been strange for the Philadelphia Eagles, yet again. This team just cannot catch a break. Fortunately, they couldn’t catch a break last season either, and they ended up winning the Super Bowl. Their start to the new season hasn’t been as flashy, but there’s still plenty of time left to make a run. Speaking of run, what are the Eagles going to do at running back for the second half of the season?

We’re sure that a large chunk of the fan base expected the Eagles to acquire a running back before the trade deadline. In case you live under a rock, they did not get one. Instead, they traded for Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate. Does that mean they are truly confident in the current backfield? Who knows. Regardless of how they feel though, this is who they are going to run with for the next eight games, and potentially more.

With the way things have gone in the first half of the season, it looks like Wendell Smallwood is going to get the start every week. He’s been the most reliable runner since Jay Ajayi’s injury, and he’s done a stellar job during the first half of the season.

Aside from Smallwood though, the Eagles have a bit of a dilemma. Josh Adams has been slowly rising, as Corey Clement has been dramatically regressing. And with the return of Darren Sproles coming soon (at least we think) who should be the third head on the three-headed monster for the second half of the year?

Smallwood, Sproles, and who….

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There’s no doubt that the Eagles are going to keep rolling with the committee approach after the bye week. As long as Sproles isn’t on the field, it will be Smallwood, Adams, and Clement getting carries. We all know once Sproles is back in the picture though, he won’t have to work his way up into that second spot on the depth chart.

So with that being said, should Corey Clement or Josh Adams get a regular role in the rotation? It’s hard to think that Clement has been this underwhelming after his rookie season, yet here we are.

Under a year ago, Clement was scoring hat-tricks and making a case for winning Super Bowl MVP. Maybe his magic has run out, who knows? One thing we do know though, this guy is not the same.

Through the first half of the season, Clement has averaged 3.3 yards-per-carry. And ever since Adams got called up to the active roster, Clement has done even worse.

We could take the lazy approach here and say that the offensive line is terrible, or Clement is still injured, but that’s simply not true at all. Adams has managed to average 5.4 yards-per-carry, while Smallwood is averaging 4.3 YPC. And as far as the injury goes, the Eagles coaching staff couldn’t be more clear that Clement is no longer dealing with his quad injury and is, in fact, 100-percent.

So, what’s the issue then?

Here’s the truth; Corey Clement is not able to secure his regular “change of pace” role this season. Last year, he was featured behind the one-two punch that was LeGarrette Blount, and Jay Ajayi. Clement brought a different speed to the backfield that threw the defense off.

What Clement was for the Eagles last season is what Sproles has been for the previous few years before 2017. He can’t be a feature back that takes a majority of the workload. That’s not his role. Smallwood might not be the quickest guy, but somehow, he does run like a power back through traffic and is hard to get down. And once Sproles comes back to the team, we all know that he will immediately pick up a good handful of carries no matter what.

Clement won’t beat out Sproles for snaps this year if he’s back. He has to take away from Josh Adams’ carries, and at this point, that doesn’t make sense for the Eagles to let that happen. Their backfield lacks power. Adams is going to be that power-back for this team moving forward, and they won’t stop rolling with the hot-hand that is Wendell Smallwood. While it’s unfortunate to say, it looks like Corey Clement is going to be the odd man out for the second half of the season.