July 04, 2025
Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice
Priority No. 1 for Saquon Barkley in training camp: Just stay healthy.
Over the next few weeks (basically whenever there isn't other news to cover), we'll take a look at every player on the Philadelphia Eagles' roster, and how they fit with the team heading into training camp. Today we'll look at the running backs.
Previous training camp previews
As you all saw, Barkley had one of the best running back seasons in NFL history, breaking the record for most rushing yards in a single season (regular season + playoffs).
The Eagles were rolling with Barkley as the focal point of the offense, and they reasonably decided to just ride him to a Super Bowl and worry about the ramifications later.
As we noted in our dumpster fire series, however, running backs of yesteryear who have had a similar number of touches that Barkley had last season typically experience a drop-off in performance in the subsequent season. It's a legitimate concern heading into 2025, backed by consistent historical evidence.
At the same time, the Eagles still have the best offensive line in the league, receivers who can make plays, an elite run game designer in Jeff Stoutland, and an athletic quarterback in Jalen Hurts who opposing defenses have to respect as a runner on read options. After years of playing in a terrible Giants offense, Barkley now has as ideal a situation as a running back could ask for.
The open spaces should still be there, and opposing defensive coordinators are going to be forced to gameplan around Barkley first and foremost.
Barkley's training camp will likely serve the purpose of getting back in shape for the season. The Eagles will likely get him used to a small amount of contact, but they will manage his reps so he will be fresh for the season. There's no way he's playing in any preseason games.
Given Barkley's extreme workload in 2024, the Eagles' backup running backs should see more action in 2025. I have Shipley as the RB2 ahead of A.J. Dillon on my depth chart heading into training camp.
Last year's RB2, Kenny Gainwell, was one of Nick Sirianni's favorite players. He was a good culture guy, he didn't make egregious mistakes, and he had some tough runs to move the sticks. However, he was also not a big play threat in his four seasons with the Eagles. Including the playoffs, he had just five career runs of 20+ yards, and two career receptions of 20+ yards (they were both exactly 20 yards). His career long run was 32 yards.
In his rookie season, I thought that Shipley exhibited that he, too, can avoid egregious mistakes (i.e. fumbles), but he also showed that he can perhaps be more of a home run threat than Gainwell. Shipley has 4.39 speed, but he also runs with balance and is able to stack multiple cuts in succession to make defenders miss while continuing to move north and south.
Gainwell signed a one-year deal in free agency with the Steelers for a little under $1.8 million. If the Eagles wanted to keep him, Gainwell would not have been much of a financial burden. It feels to me like the Eagles think — and I agree — that Shipley can be an upgrade on Gainwell as the Eagles' RB2 / two-minute offense back in 2025.
We published a much more in-depth look at Shipley's 2024 season here.
Dillon is among the NFL's biggest running backs at 6'0, 247 pounds. He was a Packers second-round pick in 2020 who turned 27 in May.
His yards per carry average has declined each year he has been in the NFL:
| A.J. Dillon | Rush | Yards | YPC | TD |
| 2020 | 46 | 242 | 5.3 | 2 |
| 2021 | 187 | 803 | 4.3 | 5 |
| 2022 | 186 | 770 | 4.1 | 7 |
| 2023 | 178 | 613 | 3.4 | 2 |
He also missed the entire 2024 season with a neck injury, but he has been cleared to play in 2025.
It's always interesting to see newly added players for the first time in person. And well, we did during the spring. I can confirm, dude is big, with massive legs. I also thought he ran well and looked comfortable catching the ball out of the backfield. To be determined if he can absorb/dish out contact like he did earlier in his career.
Robinson was a 2024 Jaguars fifth-round pick out of Texas. He appeared in six games as a rookie, with just five snaps in the regular offense, and 51 snaps on special teams. He had two kick returns for 34 yards. He did not get any carries or targets. The Jaguars waived him in June, and he was claimed by the Eagles.
Robinson originally enrolled at Alabama in 2019. He opted out of the 2020 season (COVID), and transferred to Texas, where he played for three seasons. His college stats:
| Keilan Robinson | Rush | Yards | YPC | TD |
| Alabama (2019) | 39 | 254 | 6.5 | 2 |
| Texas (2021) | 45 | 322 | 7.4 | 3 |
| Texas (2022) | 25 | 86 | 3.4 | 0 |
| Texas (2023) | 12 | 134 | 11.2 | 3 |
| TOTAL | 121 | 796 | 6.6 | 8 |
As you can see, Robinson was seldom used, as he had just 121 career carries. He did chip in 35 career catches for 332 yards (9.5 YPC) and 3 TDs. He returned kicks for Texas in 2022 and 2023, returning one kick for a score in 2023. Highlights:
Robinson is short (5'8), but he ran a 4.42 at the Combine:
Robinson is the type of back whose game translates well to practice settings, in that he's quick and fast but isn't a tackle breaker. He's an interesting player and a decent enough candidate to turn some heads in camp, but is still unlikely to make the 53.
Johnson is an undrafted rookie free agent out of Florida, who actually saw his workloads decrease a little bit each season in college:
| Montrell Johnson | Rush | Yards | YPC | TD |
| 2021 (Louisiana) | 162 | 838 | 5.2 | 12 |
| 2022 (Florida) | 155 | 841 | 5.4 | 10 |
| 2023 (Florida) | 152 | 817 | 5.4 | 5 |
| 2024 (Florida) | 100 | 593 | 5.9 | 6 |
He has some breakaway ability (he ran a 4.41 at the Combine), and he is a physical runner who likes trying to truck opposing defenders. Very fun highlight reel below:
The 2025 running back class was abnormally loaded, so Johnson might have been drafted in a normal year.
Powell is a pint-sized running back who rushed for over 1000 yards in each of the last three seasons at North Alabama (2022) and Central Arkansas (2023 and 2024), finishing his college career with over 4000 yards. Highlights:
He also had decent production as a receiver, with 80 catches over the last three seasons.
Nichols carried 614 times for 3060 yards (5.0 YPC) and 26 TDs during his college career at Central Michigan. He had 341 carries for 1848 yards and 16 TDs during the 2021 season. 5'10, 220-pound "bowling ball" type. He was in Eagles camp in 2024 as well, rushing 15 times for 30 yards in the preseason games.
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