Eagles EXCLUSIVE: Scout Details Why Jalen Hurts is Reason Not to Draft Bijan Robinson

The Philadelphia Eagles running attack is built on Jalen Hurts' unique abilities. One former Eagles scout even admits that this shouldn't be messed with via the draft.

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Eagles can't seem to avoid the Bijan Robinson hype.

EaglesSI.com's own John McMullen admits BIRDS 365 - his show that covers the Eagles and the NFL - has turned into Bijan 365 with the fan base has been trying to will general manager Howie Roseman away from his battle-tested sensible approach to roster construction and toward a fantasy football, video-game mindset where scheme fit was never coded into the platform.

The Eagles, who did host Robinson on a top-30 visit, could take advantage of the former University of Texas star's status as a blue-chip prospect if he's still on the draft board at No. 10. Another organization that needs the crutch of a more traditional running game could also want to bite at a trade to move up.

But, Philadelphia isn’t taking Robinson, and that declarative statement has more to do with star quarterback Jalen Hurts than Roseman’s history of never taking a running back in the first round or the GM’s correct valuation of that position in the modern NFL.

“They have a quarterback who makes the job easier 10 times easier for the running backs,” a former Eagles’ scouting executive told SI.com’s Eagles Today.

To that end, the Eagles' running backs ran for 1,726 yards on 366 carries (4.71 yards per carry) with 18 touchdowns last season with a good-but-not-great lead back in Miles Sanders (now with the Carolina Panthers) and two role players set to return in Kenny Gainwell and Boston Scott.

The organization is high on Gainwell taking a significant step forward in 2023 after a solid postseason but there is uncertainty at the position which is fueling all the Robinson talk.

Like Billy Beane once explained to his old-school scouts over in baseball, you’re not looking to replace Jason Giambi (the player), you want to replace that production.

As for replacing Sanders’ production for the Eagles, it could be Rashaad Penny, a tantalizingly talented back who starred in Seattle in short stints between injuries for $600,000 in guarantees, an improved Gainwell, waiver-wire pickup Trey Sermon, a 2021 third-round pick in San Francisco, on his rookie deal, or a Day 2 or Day 3 draft pick later this month.

The most likely scenario of all is a combination from different pieces of that equation.

What the Eagles are very confident in is the fact that they will be able to duplicate or improve last season’s production from the backfield due to the presence of Hurts, along with one of the better offensive lines in the NFL, without spending first-round draft capital at the position.

“The way they’ve structured their running game the past two years has been phenomenal, so I don’t get that logic [of taking Robinson],” the former exec. said. “Taking Hurts out of the gun gives the defense an extra defender in the [run] fit, and they love spreading the field to run against those light boxes that have to account for the quarterback pulling [the football].”

As counterintuitive as it may seem, adding Robinson to the Eagles’ offense is pounding the square peg in a round hole.

“It just doesn’t make sense within the structure of their offense to spend premium capital on [a running back],” the personnel executive said. “It sounds great in theory and [Robinson is] an amazing player, but they’d improve their run game more by drafting a good tight end or wide receiver [to spread the field] in the second round than they would be drafting a running back in the first.”

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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen