Top 25 Eagles Ranked: Positive Projection for D’Andre Swift at No. 17?

Philadelphia Eagles running back D’Andre Swift, a Philly native, returns home hoping to pay off his promise as a player.

PHILADELPHIA - Fourth-year running back D’Andre Swift never lived up to the hype with the Detroit Lions but that’s expected to change as the Philly native heads home to finish up his rookie contract with his hometown Eagles.

So much so that Swift lands at No. 17 in the preseason top-25 daily breakdown of the Philadelphia Eagles’ top players by SI.com’s Eagles Today.

Eagles Today beat writers Ed Kracz and John McMullen put together their own top 25 players independent of each other’s rankings and then assigned point values to the rankings, with 25 points awarded to the player ranked first on each list, 24 to the player ranked second, and so on, with one point going to the player that was put 25th.

The highest ranking from either reporter breaks any ties in the ballot.

Swift was No. 22 on McMullen’s list, a more wait-and-see approach, was Kracz was far more bullish on the running back’s upside in the Philadelphia offense, tabbing Swift at No. 13.

So far, the rankings have shaken out this way:

No. 25 - Kenny Gainwell

No. 24 - Nicholas Morrow

No. 23 - Reed Blankenship

No. 22 - Terrell Edmunds

No. 21 - Jack Elliott

No. 20 – Nakobe Dean

No. 19 – Jordan Davis

No. 18 - Jalen Carter

No. 17 - D’Andre Swift

The No. 35 pick in the 2020 draft, Swift is the fourth consecutive Georgia product in the countdown. He topped out at 617 yards rushing for the Lions in 2021, missing four games in each of his first three seasons.

Swift did flash why he was so highly-regarded coming out of college at times, however, with 50-plus-yard runs in each season and a slick ability to catch the football out of the backfield, ranging from 46 to 62 receptions.

Still just 24, Swift was acquired on Day 3 of the 2023 draft when the Eagles swapped seventh-round picks with the Lions and added a 2025 fourth-round pick as a sweetener to get the deal done. Detroit had decided to move on after signing David Montgomery in free agency and adding Alabama rookie Jahmyr Gibbs with the No. 12 overall pick this year.

The Eagles, meanwhile, lost 1,269-yard rusher Miles Sanders in free agency to Carolina and have an opening for a lead back with Swift, low-cost and oft-injured free-agent signing Rashaad Penny, and incumbent Kenny Gainwell the leading candidates for the role.

Of that group, Swift is the betting favorite to get the most touches behind what is regarded as the best offensive line in the sport and alongside a quarterback in Jalen Hurts, who makes things easier for his running backs by manipulating the spacing on the defense with his own abilities to gash them by running the football.

All the Eagles’ options have significant question marks with the main ones surrounding Swift being durability and the ability to handle a significant workload.

Sanders finished with 279 touches in what was a Pro Bowl season in 2022-23, a number that swelled to 315 if you include the postseason. Swift’s high-water mark in the NFL is over 100 less than that at 213.

As far as the physical gifts, Swift had the juice to keep the home run in the Philadelphia running game and is a much better receiver than Sanders ever was.

At offseason OTAs open to reporters, Swift got the football a few times while split wide into empty sets in an effort to get him in space.

The trade to pick up Swift was a classic low-risk, high-reward move by general manager Howie Roseman and it’s not hard to project Swift adding more to the offense than Sanders because of his wide-ranging skill set.

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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