2020 NFL Draft: Five teams that should target RB D’Andre Swift

Philadelphia Eagles

At first glance, the Philadelphia Eagles seem like a longshot to draft Swift, but hear me out. It is true that they just drafted a running back with similar skill sets and body size in the 2019 NFL Draft. Indeed, general manager Howie Roseman has consistently undervalued the position in years past. The owner Jeffrey Lurie this past offseason indeed claimed the running back position was not as important as others because of analytics. These are all true things.

And yet how cool would it be for the Eagles to draft this hometown kid, who made an entire montage video dedicated to all things in the Philly zeitgeist? The Eagles need playmakers. And Swift is a playmaker. Simple as that.

The 2020 NFL Draft will be a good litmus test to see which direction the Eagles scouting department takes going forward. With the departure of Joe Douglas  (the new general manager of the New York Jets) from the draft room, this upcoming draft will be the first year without Douglas being a major voice in the draft process.

The former Vice President of Player Personnel, Douglas had considerable say over which college players were scouted and brought in for interviews. In the 2020 NFL Draft, it should be interesting what his replacement Andy Weidl will prioritize going forward.

The Eagles also have several running backs hitting free agency this offseason and a less than generous cap situation in which to re-sign them. Running back Darren Sproles has announced he will be retiring after having another injury-plagued season in 2019. Corey Clement is also likely to move on, along with Jordan Howard.

Howard looked great in the early part of the season, but after suffering a stinger injury weeks ago, he has not exactly shown definitively he should be part of the team’s long-term future.

Rookie running back Miles Sanders this season has been a breath of fresh air for the Eagles run game and has helped the sputtering offense reach the playoffs for the third year in a row. Although he started the season slowly and had some key missteps early on, Sanders has finished the regular season as one of the most productive players on the team.

He entered the playoffs with 818 rushing yards and 509 receiving yards during the regular season. With the injuries that evaporated this team’s wide receiving corp, Sanders has shown to be the most reliable receiving option outside of Zach Ertz.

For the second season in a row, injuries have shadowed this team wherever they go. Having another dynamic playmaker like Swift behind the offensive line with Carson Wentz could be beneficial going into the 2020 season and beyond.

When Howard was healthy, this team’s offense was able to rely on the run game much more, boosting Wentz’s passing game and increasing the success rate of play-action passes. During the 2017 Eagles Super Bowl-winning season, the team kept two high-powered, dual-threat running backs on the field in Jay Ajayi and LeGarrette Blount.

While it would be foolish to attempt copying past models of success, there is nothing wrong with remembering that both players helped contribute to the team’s first Super Bowl title. There is nothing wrong with having two successful and talented running backs on the team, especially if they can double as de-facto wide receivers.

The Philadelphia Eagles are one of the most progressive team’s in the NFL when it comes to using a combination of analytics and old-school football acumen to evaluate talent. And while this team has some other serious holes on the roster, (namely the secondary and receiver position) going into the 2020 NFL Draft, I expect this team will be interested in bringing in the young local kid for a pre-draft interview.

The future of the Eagles may rely on Wentz, but if the past two seasons are any indication, this team will need flexible offensive players to plug and play when needed going forward. Swift is the exact type of player the Eagles need on the roster. A running back who can also play as a receiver could move the metaphorical needle going forward if they hope to return to the playoffs for the fourth year in a row. In the 2020 NFL Draft, there are only a handful of running backs like that. Swift is one of them.