RB Javonte Williams, UNC

Howie Roseman stuck his own foot in his mouth last season when he used the term “Quarterback Factory” in describing the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles are far from that, that is no secret. There is, however, something to be said about their success rate in drafting running backs going back to Wilbert Montgomery all the way through the likes of Brian Westbrook and Lesean McCoy. Throw Miles Sanders in that mix as well. The second round running back has definitely shown he can pound the rock, but is he your traditional bell-cow back? We can’t be so sure about that. His 2020 season was set to be his breakout year seeing about 20 touches per game and establishing himself as a premier back in the NFL. Doug Pederson and the offensive coaching staff had different ideas and thus, here we are.

Drafting a Running Back

Yes, the Eagles did indeed add RB Jordan Howard to the roster (again) this offseason to bolster the RB room, but I don’t think I’m going out on a limb saying nobody expects him to do anything substantial this season. Now there likely won’t be a huge run on RBs in the first round of the draft. We could see guys like Travis Etienne and Najee Harris go relatively early, but there is just too much gold at other positions there for the taking in the first round.

As we move to draft day 2, this is where it begins to get interesting. The Eagles have a high pick in every round beyond the first following their trade. As much as we may love Miles Sanders, we can’t be sure he can do it all based on his injury history. Couple that with the fact that NFL philosophies on paying running backs big money has changed drastically. We could be looking at moving on from Sanders in the coming years. It’s always good to have young backs waiting in the wings to take over. If things shake out the way I think it might, the Eagles could be headed to the podium with this pick:

Javonte Williams

College: UNC
Class: Junior
Hometown: Wallace, NC
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 212 lbs.

What separates Williams from the other top RB prospects is his usage. Not the way in which he was used but how often he was used. With only 366 touches under his belt in college, he’s really only just getting started and has very little tread on his tires. Another good trend to look at is his yearly production increase that lead to him being one of the best runners in the nation in 2020. He’s attracted a lot of Kareem Hunt comparisons. Williams would be splitting carries with Miles Sanders obviously, but is someone who can definitely handle a full workload if need be. If Miles Sanders gets injured or becomes too expensive, Williams should be able to fit right in.

Williams is a smart runner with great ability to see the field. He’s physical, but elusive. He breaks a lot of tackles for extra yards and can even play on passing downs whether it be in pass protection or receiving the ball out of the backfield.

Javonte Williams made Miami defenders look like bowling pins pic.twitter.com/66FxhPAzOc
— Connor Rogers (@ConnorJRogers) December 17, 2020

Javonte Williams is a monster and no one in this class could do what he did to Miami in this run. So much power, so much balance, plus the ability to escape the early penetration. A LOT of teams are going to be upset they didn't pick him in the 1st.

-Elijah#NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/DXaLGqA9vs
— Scouters Anonymous (@Scouters_Anon) February 22, 2021

As seen in the clips above, this dude is bouncy. He can rip off long chunks of yards and make defenders pay for getting near him in the open field. Could you imagine him murdering somebody like that at the Linc? The place would be going nuts.