Eagles' Kenny Gainwell Stepping Up: Leader of RB Committee?

Third-year running back Kenny Gainwell has looked like the Philadelphia Eagles' best option so far.

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Eagles have been tight-lipped on their running back situation, insisting there are many ways to reach the same end game as last season when Miles Sanders rushed for 1.269 yards.

Maybe you don’t get all of it from one back but a committee built on parts from Kenny Gainwell, D’Andre Swift, Rashaad Penny, and Boston Scott could replicate or even surpass the Eagles’ efficacy from the backfield a year ago.

At least that’s the party line.

"To be honest we never really anticipate what's going to happen,” assistant head coach/running backs Jemal Singleton said earlier this week. “We just gotta be prepared for whatever we're needed for and I think as a running back that's what we have to do.”

Whether it’s running the football, catching it, or pass protection, Singleton wants all his charges, a group that also includes younger backs Trey Sermon and Kennedy Brooks, to do it all.

“They gotta have a baseline that's pretty good so any one of these guys can run the football,” said Singleton. “I think that's part of it so we can run the football with any of them in there and there's guys that maybe have a higher ability to run routes and more receiver-ish so you can kinda blend it in that way.”

You get the feeling that if sodium pentathol was in play, the Eagles would admit that the best-case scenario is having a true three-down back but the organization isn’t quite sure that player is in the building.

“If it happens that a guy gets that opportunity he can take advantage of that but we just gotta be ready for any situation that shows up, every week and every game,” Singleton insisted.

Practice exists, however, and no matter how many times the Eagles talk about a malleable rotation, it’s evident that Gainwell has taken a step forward just over a month before the season opener at New England.

There are still three preseason games and perhaps more importantly three joint practices (two against Cleveland and one vs. Indianapolis) to go, however.

"That's part of it. I always say you gotta have the pads on, right? Singleton said. “You gotta have some contact because there are a lot of things about the job we have to do that's physical whether it's picking up pass pro or running through the tackle. So that's part of it.

“You can make some of the evaluation at running back before we put the pads on but you're not getting a true one until we get to bang heads."

At 5-8 and 200 pounds, Gainwell doesn’t necessarily have the look of a power back but he’s been the most impressive option in between the tackles in both backed-up and red-zone periods for Philadelphia in practice.

On Wednesday’s session at Lincoln Financial Field, Gainwell burst off the left side for a five-yard gain with Philadelphia backed up on the two-yard line, the kind of first-down success that both keeps an offense on schedule and in manageable situations to convert on third down.

"Kenny's doing a really good job and working as hard as he can and that's just who he is,” Singleton said.

The tournament isn’t over for the Eagles’ RB1 job but there’s finally a clear leader in the clubhouse.

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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