Eagles Need A Bruiser Back

During Andy Reid's tenure as head coach, the Eagles have never had a real big run between the tackles running back.  Duce Staley had some girth to him but he wasn't a true bruising back.  Westbrook was small and fast but couldn't run people over.  And while Lesean McCoy is quickly developing into a star, he too is not going to plow people over en route to the end zone.  

One of the reasons the Eagles are not in the playoffs is because their offense stalled in the red zone.  During the course of this past year, the Eagles became too predictable in the redzone and relied way too heavily on the passing game.  In a shortened field, the Eagles can't stretch the field with guys like Desean Jackson and opposing defenses can stack the box and render Lesean McCoy ineffective.  One of the things that makes McCoy so great is his ability to get out in space and use his speed and agility to get big runs.  But inside the 20, the safeties and defensive backs are closer to the line of scrimmage and McCoy doesn't have the wide open running lanes to run through.  

But if the Eagles had a big bruising back that could run between the tackles like a Brandon Jacobs, the running game would be a factor in the redzone which would open up the pass.  Heading into the off season, a lot of people are concerned about fixing the defense.  But the Eagles top priority this off season needs to be fixing their redzone offense.  Too many times this year, drives came to an end inside the 20.  Instead of getting points, the Eagles turned the ball over due to the fact that they were too predictable close to the endzone.  

A big bruising running back would keep defenses guessing and enable the offense to move forward in a shortened field.  The Eagles can add all of the offensive weapons that they want, but if they continue to stall when they get close to the endzone, then they won't be able to score and will be prone to costly turnovers.  The Eagles need to fill this need either in the draft or in free agency or next year could be another disappointing season.