Kenny Gainwell Frontrunner to Make Biggest Year One to Year Two Jump

Examining the chances of making a big leap for all 9 players from the Class of 2021, including DeVonta Smith

It feels like the Eagles used Kenny Gainwell the wrong way last year.

Instead of letting the running back dip his toes into the choppy waters of the NFL, first-year head coach Nick Sirianni came out swinging with his fifth-round draft pick.

It was Gainwell and Miles Sanders used exclusively in the backfield for the first seven weeks of the season.

It didn’t matter that Gainwell hadn’t played football since 2019, after opting out of his final season at Memphis due to COVID-19. He was tossed into the lineup right away.

The backfield dynamic changed, however, in Las Vegas in late October after Sanders got hurt and Gainwell had a costly fumble late in the first half of a blowout loss to the Raiders.

Suddenly, Gainwell took a bit of a backseat with Boston Scott and Jordan Howard entering the picture.

After logging 35 snaps in Vegas, he never came close to that number again, except for the meaningless regular-season finale against the Cowboys when all the Eagles starters took a seat.

In the three games prior to the 39 snaps he got in Week 18 against Dallas, he played six snaps followed by two followed by eight.

Instead of finishing strong, Gainwell finished more as an afterthought.

Now comes Year Two and the expectation for every second-year player is that their production and playtime will increase.

Of the nine players drafted two years ago, Gainwell could make the biggest jump.

Kenny Gainwell

USA Today

2021: 544 total yards and six touchdowns

DeVonta Smith

USA Today

2021: Led team in receptions (64), yards receiving (916), touchdown receptions (5)

Milton Williams

USA Today

2021: 40 percent of snaps, 30 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, two sacks

Tarron Jackson

Ed Kracz/SI.com Eagle Maven

2021: 22 percent of snaps, 17 tackles, 1 sack

Zech McPhearson

2021: Mostly used on special teams and made four tackles but played 16 percent of the defensive snaps

Landon Dickerson

John McMullen/SI Fan Nation's Eagles Today

2021: The second-round pick was inactive for the first game of his rookie season, but ended up making 13 starts

Marlon Tuipulotu

Ed Kracz/SI.com Eagle Maven

2021: Played just 55 defensive snaps and made five tackles

JaCoby Stevens

2021: Spent most of his rookie season on the practice squad, though he got 44 defensive snaps in the Week 18 regular-season finale against the Dallas Cowboys 

Patrick Johnson

Ed Kracz/SI.com Eagle Maven

2021: Used more early in his rookie season, Johnson's snaps tailed off, though he still logged 111 of them on defense, making 12 tackles

“I think it's the same with any young player,” said offensive coordinator Shane Steichen about Gainwell. “Obviously, you want to see a jump in year two. You want to see that growth as a runner, as a pass-catcher out of the backfield. 

"We use him out of the backfield as you guys know to run routes, so just to see different leverages, the coverages the defenders are playing on him, just to see that growth in that will be good.”

There are two main reasons to believe it will be Gainwell who makes the biggest jump.

First, he is the only running back under contract beyond this season. He will play.

Second, he doesn’t have to shake off any rust from a year of football inactivity coming into this season.

As it was, the RB finished fifth on the team in rushing yards with 291 on 68 carries (4.3 ypc) and five touchdowns. He added 33 catches for 253 yards and one TD.

It feels like there will be much more in both departments this season.

Now, some may say it will be DeVonta Smith who makes the biggest leap, and that may very well be the case.

Smith set a high bar for himself last year, though. The first-round pick from two years ago had 64 catches, a team rookie-record 916 yards receiving, and five receiving touchdowns. All those numbers led the Eagles.

The Eagles added A.J. Brown which should help Smith go even higher with his numbers.

“I think the sky's the limit for Smitty,” said Brown. “And also, I'm excited for him Year 2 and I'm excited to see the steps he takes."

Smith could very well become the first Eagles WR since Jeremy Maclin in 2014 to top 1,000 yards receiving.

Two others who could be in contention for the biggest jump are defensive linemen Milton Williams and Tarron Jackson.

Williams, a third-round pick, was used both inside and out on the D-line, though mostly out. He played all 17 games, 40 percent of the defensive snaps, and had 30 tackles and two sacks.

Jackson, one of three players taken in the sixth round, plays on the edge and the Eagles didn’t add at that position, except for bringing back Derek Barnett and getting a healthy Brandon Graham back. He also played all 17 games, but just 22 percent of the snaps. Still, Jackson had 17 tackles and one sack.

Seventh-round LB Patrick Johnson has too many players at his position to get too many snaps to make a huge leap.

Fourth-round CB Zech McPhearson would have been in the conversation for a top three jump, but the Eagles signed James Bradberry to start opposite Darius Slay, taking away some of McPhearson’s opportunity.

Rounding at the rest of the class:

• Second-round pick Landon Dickerson could make a big jump, but being an offensive guard, how would we truly measure that?

• Sixth-round pick Marlon Tuipulotu has the opportunity, but can he take advantage?

• Sixth-round pick JaCoby Stevens needs to make some kind of leap to avoid the practice squad for a second straight year.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.