LeGarrette Blount was an exciting addition for Philadelphia Eagles fans after his outstanding season with the New England Patriots last year, but is there a chance the veteran may not make it to the regular season?
Blount has rushed for just 17 yards on nine carries in two preseason games. While it’s never wise to get worked up about the preseason, he’s on the wrong side of 30 and has reportedly looked slow — yes, even slower than usual. In a piece he wrote for NJ.com over the weekend, Matt Lombardo speculated that Blount could be one of the veterans the Eagles end up cutting.
The 30-year-old has struggled to get to the corner on off-tackle runs and it appears as though the workload of last season’s 299 carries with the New England Patriots last season.
In Doug Pederson’s offense, running backs are asked to catch the ball out of the backfield and run off tackle more often than not, neither of which are the strengths of Blount’s game.
The Patriots could have re-signed Blount for fairly cheap money, so that is a bad sign if you believe in Bill Belichick’s uncanny ability to identify when players are about to begin their decline. In reality, Blount’s 1,161 rushing yards and league-leading 18 touchdowns in 2016 were more a product of New England’s high-powered offense and frequency of trips to the goal line.
Carson Wentz could take a big step forward this season now that he has Alshon Jeffery to throw to, but Tom Brady he is not. A 30-year-old Blount is unlikely to thrive outside of the Patriots’ system. The Eagles may be already starting to realize that.
