Duce Staley contradicts Doug Pederson’s plans with the backfield
Although the Philadelphia Eagles have used Josh Adams as the bell-cow back this past weekend, don’t be surprised if they shy away from it again.
A lot of things have been concerning for the Philadelphia Eagles offense this season. We obviously know how Doug Pederson struggles to keep a run/pass balance on a consistent basis. But one thing that we haven’t talked about much lately was the fact that the Eagles offensive coaching staff hasn’t matched up on their plans during their press conferences.
Do they lack in communication over there at the Nova Care Complex? Because it sure seems like it. Let me explain why I am bringing up the Eagles lack of discussion on the coaching staff. So, this past weekend, the Eagles decided to do something that they haven’t done in quite some time – They utilized a single running back for a majority of the carries out of the backfield.
For the first time since Ryan Mathews was in the backfield, the Eagles had a single running back rush for 22 carries. Undrafted rookie Josh Adams has proven over the last few weeks that he deserves more work, and the Eagles finally gave it to him.
Averaging 3.8 yards-per-carry, Adams rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown. While Corey Clement had a solid day himself, it’s clear that Adams is more fit to take on most of the carries, while Clement goes back to his regular role of being a change of pace back.
The “feature back” was refreshing.
Most of the time, the Eagles running backs rotation for their committee approach didn’t make sense. They roll with the ‘hot hand,’ but it never seems to add up. Finally, the Eagles decided to switch it up this past weekend, and it all worked out. While Eagles head coach Doug Pederson makes it clear that he wants to keep getting Adams’ more carries moving forward, the head of the rotation, Duce Staley completely contradicts the head coach’s plans.
Next. Nigel Bradham has a broken thumb. dark
According to NJ Advanced Media’s Zack Rosenblatt, Duce Staley states that the Eagles are still going to roll with a running back by committee, and whoever the hot hand is will get the ball. Does this mean that Adams will lose carries moving forward? Not nessecarily. But don’t expect to make sense out of the Eagles backfield still. As long as Staley is in charge of the rotation, it will more than likely be unpredictable. We can assume that Adams will lead the team in carries moving forward, but don’t expect that he will see 20-plus carries on a weekly basis.