Roster Breakdown: Running Backs

Roster Breakdown: Running Backs

There was not much else that could be asked from #36 last year: Brian Westbrook broke two standing team records in one magnificent season which saw him to go the Pro Bowl yet again. Westbrook broke the club record for most receptions in a season as his 90 catches eclipsed Irving Fryar’s previous record of 88 receptions in a season dating back to 1997, and his 2,108 total yards from scrimmage broke the club mark get by Wilbert Montgomery of 2,004 total yards back in 1979. And yet for all of this, Westbrook is convinced that he is in for a longer and bigger payday, and it remains to be seen if he gets his way or not.

The depth behind him is four strong, but each man comes with their own story to tell. Let’s start with Lorenzo Booker: the Eagles traded a 4th round pick to the Miami Dolphins during this year’s draft and brought him in for the mini camps and also with the rookies and selected veterans on Monday as well. Booker provides us with not only a good solid running back and speed aloft, but he will also give us a clear cut option for kick returns, something we oh so lacked in 2007.

Then there is Correll “General” Buckhalter: the old timer of the group and the 8th year veteran from Nebraska has seemed to have fended off the injuries which ravaged his career up to 2005 with a solid 2006 and 2007 campaign, including a 100-yard effort in a Sunday Night loss week four to the New York Giants. Buck has done everything that the team has asked of him to date and despite all of his injuries early on, the team never gave up on their former 4th round pick in 2001.

One interesting factor will be the role for 2nd year man Tony Hunt, the team’s 2B pick in the third round last year. Many have speculated that it was Booker that the Eagles wanted as opposed to Hunt in 2007, so does trading for the former mean that the latter could be phased off of the team? Let’s face it, his blocking, for being a “bigger” back, didn’t exactly win over any critics either.

That brings us to Ryan Moats, who had an impressive rookie season in 2005 on a team that was totally far from impressive. He tailed off production wise in 2006 but proved a viable kick return man and missed 2007 all together after getting injured in the first pre-season game. For speed running we have Westbrook and Booker, and the latter will also double as a kick return man, so it seems imperative that Moats is likely to be the odd man out of the picture.

What I think happens: Well as I made mention of in the above paragraph, we don’t ever carry five backs, so Moats in my mind is the first cut, but the question is will we carry four backs again like last year while keeping Satokei “Reno” Mahe for kicks and punts? It seems likely, because the team won’t want to give up on Hunt after one bad season, Buck is in the last year of his contract anyway, and Booker and Westbrook are locks assuming the latter doesn’t hold out for any unseen reasons. It then becomes a question of how many carries Westbrook gets, and how much work Booker gets out of the backfield as well.