The Eagles RB room got crowded fast this offseason, with Philly bringing in former Seahawks RB Rashaad Penny via free agency and former Lions RB D’Andre Swift in via trade. While the offseason hype has been around the latter, and understandably so, it would be foolish to overlook the potential Penny offers behind the Eagles great offensive line, even exclusively in the early down role.

Among RBs with 50+ carries in 2022, Rashaad Penny boasted the highest yards per carry (6.1), the highest yards after contact per attempt (4.23), and the 2nd-highest explosive run rate (credit to Jonathon Macri over at PFF for digging these up!). That was before he went down with a tibia fracture in Week 5, which sidelined him for the remainder of the season.

The hesitancy with Penny is just that – he could be injured again and miss significant time. However, it’s more bad luck forcing Penny off the field than it is vulnerability to injury; none of his injuries that have costed him time in the regular season have been recurring injuries. This isn’t a tender hammy that keeps flaring up we’re talking about; a handful of muscle strains and one bad break last year should be no reason to avoid Penny, especially at his supremely affordable RB36 price given his upside.