What a mess the Philadelphia Eagles have on their hands with the running back situation, as Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby are injured, but could Will Shipley potentially be starting at the right time?
Barkley injured his hamstring in the first quarter of the Eagles' 24-20 Week 4 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. He is week-to-week right now, but it doesn't look good for him to play in Week 5 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
#Eagles RB Saquon Barkley is considered week-to-week with his hamstring injury, per me and @MikeGarafolo. It’s not considered to be a long-term injury. pic.twitter.com/WvZgowe7Hs
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 6, 2026
As for Bigsby, he also got hurt in the Rams game, suffering a knee injury in the second half of the loss. He is going to be taking a trip to the IR and will have surgery on it. He is looking at being out four to six weeks with the injury.
The Eagles are now down to one healthy running back on the roster: Shipley. Oddly, he might actually be able to help the offense when he is truly needed.
Will Shipley could give Eagles' offense the spark they need in Week 5
Shipley will definitely face challenges with the offensive line; Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, and Lane Johnson could all miss the Jaguars game. That would leave Willie Lampkin, Drew Kendall, and Markel Bell as the replacements.
That said, Shipley is a versatile running back who can do a lot in this offense. He has proven himself to be a great pass blocker, can run the ball wherever he needs to, and has good hands coming out of the backfield.
This season, Shipley has 15 carries for 51 yards and four receptions for 24 yards. He also has six kickoff returns for 134 yards, with one tackle on special teams.
With the current issues on the offensive line, the Eagles can use Shipley in different ways. While it might make some Eagles fans sick to hear, Shipley catching screens out of the backfield could be a good start to help the running game.
The most important thing for this offense is to make sure Jalen Hurts gets the ball out of Jalen Hurts'get hands quickly. That will likely mean Hurts finds Shipley more often out of the backfield for short passes to help the offensive line out.
In the running game, the outside zone runs will really help the Eagles right now. One, they need to run Shipley behind left tackle Jordan Mailata on the outside and gain first-down yards. Also, get right guard Tyler Steen pulling and leading-blocking for Shipley so there is a reliable blocker there. Philly has.
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Obviously, the ideal situation is to have Barkley out there, but the Eagles need to play it safe and rush him back in. Shipley gives this offense the versatility it needs to get through this rough patch of the season.
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