Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Eagles "reach out" to Warrick Dunn

Apparently unsatisfied with having Lorenzo Booker or Eldra Buckley as their third string running back, rumor has it that the Eagles are possibly pursuing veteran running back Warrick Dunn. According to Steve Wyche of NFL.com, the Eagles, along with the Seahawks, have reached out to Dunn to gauge the interest of the 34 year old who spent last season with Tampa Bay. Dunn is a 12 year veteran and, while at the twilight of his career, still has the speed, shiftiness and receiving skills to contribute in the NFL.

Simply because he wouldn't play very much, I would say there is a slim chance Dunn will sign with the Eagles. He would be better of playing for the Seahawks, where he could work his way into their running back rotation. The Eagles don't really need another small running back, so I'm surprised they would even want Dunn. A backfield of Brian Westbrook, LeSean McCoy and Dunn would be incredibly dynamic but it would also be shrimpy as hell, with no back taller than 5 foot 10 or heavier than 200 pounds.

This reaching out to Dunn signifies to me that the Eagles might want to upgrade their 3rd running back spot. Booker looks like he has been beaten out by the unproven Buckley, but the Eagles might choose to go with someone with more experience as a backup. After all, if/when Westbrook gets hurt, the team doesn't want to have to rely on a pair of rookies to carry the load, no matter how good they have looked this preseason.

2 comments:

Justin F. said...

I do not feel as if the Eagles need to reach out to another big name offensive skill position player, but rather, focus on finding another safety, something they badly need. Unless, of course, the plan is to convert Macho Harris or another corner to full safety.

allthingsphilly said...

Macho Harris has been working all training camp with the Eagles to be a safety.