Rashaad Penny joined the Philadelphia Eagles this week on a low-cost, one-year contract despite owning a career 5.7 yards-per-attempt average over five seasons in Seattle.
The former first-round pick's chronic issue has been staying healthy. Penny has never played a full-season slate. In the past three seasons, he's appeared in just 18 games. In Week 5 of 2022, Penny went down with a broken fibula.
When healthy, Penny has proven he can do big things. In the past two seasons, he's averaged 6.2 yards per carry on 176 attempts for 1,095 yards with eight touchdowns. Down the stretch of the 2021 campaign, finally healthy, Penny generated four games of 135-plus yards in the final five tilts. He added a 151-yard performance in Week 4 of 2022 and was on his way to another potential big game (54 yards on eight carries) in Week 5 before suffering the season-ending injury.
The upside is there for the 27-year-old to have a big season behind Philly's dominant offensive line.
"I'm just here to help," Penny said. "I'm here to tie into what they want to do, add my elements to their game, and just be a factor. I got a really great running back room with a lot of good guys in there that can do the same thing. I'm excited to get started with this new group, see the competition level, and see where we go with it."
Penny joins Kenneth Gainwell and re-signed Boston Scott in the Eagles' backfield after Miles Sanders inked a bigger contract with the Carolina Panthers. If Penny stays healthy, the trio complements each other well and should keep the Eagles' dominant ground game going with Jalen Hurts under center. Penny's deal also doesn't stop the Eagles from adding an RB later in the draft, a deep position this year.
"I feel like this is a great place for me to refresh, restart my career," Penny said. "I'm just excited to be here, and I can't wait to get to work. I'm playing with a finalist MVP at QB, a great running back room, great weapons on the receivers, and obviously, arguably, the best O-line. I'm definitely excited to get to work."
