Getty Wendell Smallwood and Corey Clement will be battling for touches in the Eagles backfield.
The Adrian Killins’ experience lasted one game in Philadelphia. The Eagles waived the explosive weapon from Central Florida on Monday.
Killins, the undrafted rookie running back, was called up from the practice squad on Saturday and signed to the active roster for Sunday’s game. He saw eight offensive snaps and lost 12 yards on his lone carry of the evening, although to be fair that tote was on a telegraphed play that had no chance of going anywhere. Killins was met in the backfield before he even got his feet moving. He also made one catch for two yards before being shown the door.
The 5-foot-8, 177-pounder doesn’t lack confidence and now will try to latch on somewhere else in the NFL. This is the same guy who walked into an Eagles’ locker room full of track stars and boldly claimed he was the quickest player on the roster. He used the same bravado in college where he broke off a 96-yard touchdown run against Memphis to set a record for the longest in UCF and American Athletic Conference history. According to the Orlando News-Journal, Killins once declared himself the “fastest man in college football.”
“Once I got past the second level, I knew no one was going to catch me after that,” Killins said after breaking that 96-yard run in 2017. “I have great confidence in myself, with the ability that our strength and conditioning coaches are instilling in us. All the speed and agility (drills) we’re doing here, it shows on the field each and every Saturday.”
Roster Move: #Eagles have waived RB Adrian Killins. pic.twitter.com/iM1P4DCBxN
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 5, 2020
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Eagles Tab Corey Clement ‘4-Minute Offense’ RB
The decision not to salt the game away with Miles Sanders on Sunday night left many people scratching their heads. Why not put the ball in the hand of your best running back?
But Doug Pederson explained the reasoning behind the move, saying that Corey Clement is the guy he turns to for “four-minute football” or “two-minute football.” Those short-yardage situations where the team is backed up or in the red zone.
“Corey was one of our backs at the end of the game in the four-minute offense, a little bit bigger back and he’s capable of running between the tackles that way,” Pederson said. “He’s powerful. He’s big, so by design, by game plan design, he was in on those specific plays at the end of the game.”
At 5-foot-10, 220 pounds, Clement is a slightly bigger back with a more bruising style compared to Sanders who is 10 pounds lighter. It was a weird decision — and explanation — from Pederson but one he appears ready to stick by. The Eagles did win the game after all and the head coach had jokes for days.
Said Pederson: “You guys asked me to play our [running] backs more, so I’m trying to play our backs more.”
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