Philadelphia Eagles seven-round 2020 NFL Mock Draft

After the 2019 season, the Philadelphia Eagles will have five free agents at the running back position, according to Spotrac.

This past offseason the Eagles brought in Jordan Howard from Chicago to be a one-year rental and play the big running back position. They also drafted Miles Sanders from Penn State in the 2019 NFL draft to be the shifty, fast dual-threat running back. If Howard played exceptionally well, it was plausible he would stick around for 2020.

But this year he has missed multiple games with an injury, and the consensus is Howard will most likely be hitting free agency after this season. Considering in 2018 Roseman neglected the running back position to the chagrin of the Eagles fans, I expect the Philadelphia Eagles to draft a big, powerful, bruising running back to pair with Sanders going forward.

Najee Harris of the Alabama Crimson Tide looks to suit that position nicely. At 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, this running back has proven tough to tackle and is a good runner after contact. Harris won’t dazzle you with how many yards he runs in a season. But with 11 rushing touchdowns and a 1,000 plus amount of yards this year (ESPN), Harris has the ability to be the next big running back in Philadelphia.

On top of 11 rushing touchdowns, Harris is also a threat as a receiver, logging up seven touchdowns on 27 receptions this year. This running back is stocky, powerful and a receiving threat? What’s the catch? Why is he falling all the way to the fourth round you might ask?

For starters, most of his career receiving yards have come this year, having only 10 receptions in his first two years at Alabama. On top of that, Harris has never been tasked with being the lead back in Tuscaloosa, always playing second fiddle to faster running backs. His lack of speed is concerning.

Add to all of that the overall devaluation of running backs over the past few years in the NFL and a number of elite running backs entering the 2020 draft creates a situation where a player of Harris’s caliber would fall to the fourth round.

But if Harris could simply be a short-yardage, inside the five-yard line dive it in running back for the Philadelphia Eagles, he’d be a pivotal part of the team’s red zone offensive scheme. Roseman has never valued running backs much, as the role of the big back has changed year to year for the Philadelphia Eagles. But LeGarrette Blount in 2017 showed how valuable a running back of his caliber could be for the team.

If the team could have a player like that around for 4-5 years, at a reasonable price it would relieve a ton of pressure from Wentz and his receivers in those key red-zone situations. Considering the Philadelphia Eagles have five free agents at the position next year, I would expect them to consider drafting one of the better running backs in this year’s draft past the third round. Harris would be an excellent candidate if he is still available.