Jordan Howard vs. Boston Scott vs. Kenneth Gainwell: Howard Takes Over as Backfield Leader for Eagles

As we head deeper into the second half of the NFL season, many teams are still trying to find their best options at key positions. The Philadelphia Eagles are one such team. For most of the season, Miles Sanders was handling things out of the backfield for the Eagles, but he suffered an ankle injury that landed him on the injured reserve list. 

Now, without a clear starter, things have been murky in Philly since.

Who is the Eagles New Lead Back?

The Eagles elevated Jordan Howard from the practice squad and he managed 57 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries against the Detroit Lions in his first game. Howard followed that performance up with another strong showing in Week 9, taking 17 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown against the Chargers.

He has yet to see a pass thrown his way but three touchdowns in two games after an extended absence is a good sign that Howard still has some left in the tank.

But Howard isn’t the Eagles’ only option at running back. In Howard’s Week 8 debut against the Lions, Boston Scott also saw 12 carries in the game. Scott managed two touchdowns on the day and eked out Howard by three yards to finish with 60. Scott ended up leading the backfield, including Kenneth Gainwell, with 44% of the snaps. Gainwell saw 32% and Howard just 24%.

Gainwell led the team with 13 touches but that was garbage time work and he only managed 27 yards. It seems that Gainwell quickly went from the No. 2 option behind Sanders to the No 3 option behind Scott and Howard. Scott did settle down a bit last week, running for 40 yards on 10 attempts. In his only other action this season, Scott took his seven touches for 24 yards and a touchdown. 

This begs the question. Which of these backs will lead the eagles moving forward?

I think, based on the last two weeks, it is safe to assume that Howard will see the lion’s share of work out of the Eagles backfield. Scott will get his touches, but as second fiddle to Howard and a good goal-line option.

Meanwhile, Gainwell will be relegated to garbage time and maybe some change of pace work. No matter which way you slice it, the Eagles’ ground game got a lot less exciting when Sanders got hurt.

The Eagles are 2.5-point underdogs to the Broncos in Week 10.