PHILADELPHIA — Eagles running back D’Andre Swift quietly has put together a career season, the product of St. Joseph’s Prep just 104 yards shy of his first 1,000-yard season.
“That’s a great thing for any running back to have,” Swift said. “I kind of really don’t look at stats like that. I kind of take it week to week and just always look for ways to get better. But to be able to reach that, I feel like that’s always good for a back.”
Running backs, especially quality backs, always are going to play a secondary role on an Eagles team that belongs to quarterback Jalen Hurts when it’s time for the money runs. Hurts is second in the NFL with 14 rushing touchdowns entering the weekend.
Whether that formula remains in the best interest of a sputtering Eagles offense that’s averaged just 16.3 points over the last three games, all losses, certainly is debatable.
Consider the way the Eagles started the season with Swift rushing for 434 yards in a 5-0 start, including the opener where he got just one carry. The Eagles averaged 28.2 points in those games.
Swift has since run for 462 yards on the ground in nine games. Is it a major surprise the Eagles are 5-4 in that block while getting further away from their identity?
This could be the week the Eagles (10-4) downshift to run mode as they desperately need to get back on track and keep pace with the conference-leading San Francisco 49ers (11-3) and division-leading Dallas Cowboys (10-4), all jockeying for playoff position.
The Eagles need a win in the worst way over the New York Giants (5-9) Monday at Lincoln Financial Field.
Entering the weekend, Swift was fifth in the league with a career-best 896 rushing yards. With 38 receptions for 209 yards and one score, he’s fourth on a squad behind 1,000-yard receiving talents in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and underrated tight end Dallas Goedert.
“As an offense we just need to find a way to keep pushing, keep finding ways to get better,” Swift said. “We still haven’t had that dominant performance, that type of caliber of ball that we know we’re capable of playing. Whatever gets called we’ve got to execute at the end of the day. We’ve just got to be better across the board. As long as I’m helping the team to succeed, that’s all that matters.”
Landing with the Eagles was a coup of sorts for Swift, a 2020 second-round pick out of Georgia by the Detroit Lions. He was shipped to the Eagles last spring in an exchange of third-day picks.
The Lions had no room for Swift as they selected running back Jahmyr Gibbs with the 12th pick and signed David Montgomery in free agency. Gibbs has rushed for 792 yards and seven touchdowns in a dozen games while Montgomery has 855 yards and 10 TDs for a Lions squad that also is 10-4 and very much in the hunt for a high playoff seed.
What the Eagles learned a little more intimately about Swift is how he can be used situationally. Swift has averaged 4.9 yards per carry (295 for 1,438 yards) since the start of the 2022 season and 4.9 yards per rush on first down, fifth in the league in both categories.
Swift has averaged 3.3 yards before contact per carry since the start of 2022, trailing only Kyren Williams (3.5) of the Los Angeles Rams.
As far as a game plan for the Giants, here’s a suggestion: Swift is averaging 6.1 yards per carry on rushes to the left side since 2022, tops among running backs, while the Giants have allowed 5.7 yards per carry defending rushes to the left in the same time frame, worst in the NFL.
One way or another, Swift has made himself some money by staying healthy in this, the final year of a rookie contract paying him $1.77 million in base salary. After all, former Eagles running back Miles Sanders parlayed his big 2022 season (1,269 yards, 11 touchdowns) rushing into a four-year, $25.4 million contract with the Carolina Panthers. So what if Sanders has 121 rushes for just 401 yards (3.3 ypc) and one TD this year?
Swift is looking at a pay bump averaging at least $6 million annually.
“I don’t know, we’ll see when it’s all said and done,” Swift said. “There’s a lot of plays left, a lot of season left. So, we’ll see what happens. The main focus is practice and then Monday against the Giants.”
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The Eagles will be without the services of linebacker Zach Cunningham (knee), guard Landon Dickerson (broken thumb) and cornerbacks Avonte Maddox (pectoral) and Darius Slay (knee) this weekend.
Linebacker Nicolas Morrow (abdomen) is questionable.
For the Giants, listed as out are left tackle Evan Neal (ankle) and defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches (knee). Questionable are defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence (hamstring), defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson (back), running back Gary Brightwell (hamstring) and tight end Lawrence Cager (groin).
Source: Berkshire mont