Each day this week NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Reuben Frank will have an Eagles all-time top-10 list. On Monday, we rated quarterbacks. Today it’s running backs.
The top four running backs in Eagles history – in some order – have to be LeSean McCoy, Wilbert Montgomery, Steve Van Buren and Brian Westbrook. That’s not really up for debate. The tricky part is putting them in the right order.
All four made multiple Pro Bowls. All four led the NFL in scrimmage yards once. All four played on really good teams. All four averaged between 4.4 and 4.6 yards per carry.
How do you separate them? Here’s what we came up with:
10. Keith Byars: He was never the player the Eagles envisioned when they made him the 10th player taken in the 1986 draft, but after a couple poor years when the Eagles tried to make him their lead running back, Byars really found his niche as a receiving back. He’s still second to Westbrook in Eagles history in catches and receiving yards among running backs and seventh among RBs with 6,204 scrimmage yards. He was part of the mass exodus of free agents after the 1992 season and finished his 13-year career with the Dolphins, Patriots and Jets.
9. Tom Woodeshick: Kind of a forgotten guy because he played on nine Eagles teams (from 1963 through 1971) that failed to reach the playoffs. But he piled up 3,563 rushing yards – still 9th-most in franchise history – and 4,736 scrimmage yards – still 7th-most. Woodeshick played in 111 games as an Eagle, still the most games ever by an Eagles running back. His 4.4 average over the seven-year period from 1964 through 1970 was 6th-best in the NFL.
8. Timmy Brown: During the five-year period from 1962 through 1966, Brown had the 4th-most scrimmage yards among NFL running backs, and two of the guys ahead of him were Hall of Famers Jim Brown and Jim Taylor. He led all NFL running backs with 186 catches during that span and was also third behind Brown and Taylor with 51 TDs. Like Woodeshick, he was never on good teams. He was a deep backup on the 1960 NFL Championship team, but his good years were all bad years for the Eagles. But he was a really good back.
7. Miles Sanders: Remember him? He was only here for four years but put together a pretty impressive resume. Sanders is seventh in franchise history in rushing yards and first – by far – in yards per carry (minimum 750 carries) at 5.0. Sanders’ 3,708 rushing yards since 2019 are 2nd-most in Eagles history by a player in his first four years (McCoy had 158 more). Sanders is one of only five backs to begin his career with 750 rushing yards and a 4.6 average in each of his first four seasons. The others are Nick Chubb, Jim Brown and Gale Sayers. Pretty good body of work on paper, although it obviously didn’t end well.
6. Ricky Watters: The vastly under-rated Watters squeezed 3,794 rushing yards and 5,112 scrimmage yards into his brief stay with the Eagles. He’s sixth in franchise history in both rushing and scrimmage yards despite spending only three seasons in Philly. Watters remains the only Eagle with three straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons. From 1995 through 1997, only Barry Sanders and Terrell Davis had more scrimmage yards than Ricky. His 31 rushing TDs in just three seasons are 5th-most ever by an Eagles running back
5. Duce Staley: Staley was just a solid back who helped the Eagles transform from a lost cause during the late Ray Rhodes years into one of the NFL’s elite teams in the early Andy Reid era. He remains fifth in franchise history with 4,807 rushing yards and fourth with 7,305 scrimmage yards. His 275 catches are still 4th-most ever by an Eagles running back. Along with Cedric Benson and Adrian Murrell, one of only three RBs in NFL history who had three 1,000-yard seasons and never made a Pro Bowl. Won a Super Bowl with the Steelers in 2005 and another on Doug Pederson’s coaching staff in 2017. A true Eagle.
4. Wilbert Montgomery: Again, it’s really tough to separate these top four. Here’s how we did it: Wilbert really only had three years where he was an elite player – 1978, 1979 and 1981. Those were the only years he gained over 515 yards while averaging over 4.0 yards per carry. Huge NFC Championship Game in 1980 isn’t enough to elevate him into the top three. Nearly 40 years after his last game as an Eagle, Montgomery still ranks second in rushing yards and third in scrimmage yards in franchise history.
3. Steve Van Buren: It’s tough to argue with Van Buren’s credentials. He led the NFL in rushing four times and still has the most rushing TDs in franchise history – 24 more than Westbrook. If we had him at No. 1 nobody would argue with it. But his career rushing average is lower than McCoy or Westbrook (or Montgomery), he had fewer rushing yards per game than Shady – in a run-heavy era - and fewer scrimmage yards per game than Westbrook or McCoy. Van Buren was a workhorse. He had 600 more carries than anybody else in the NFL from 1944 through 1951. He made five all-pro teams, led the league in rushing four times (in a 10-team league), but he also only had four elite seasons (1945, 1947, 1948, 1949). He ranked 17th in the NFL in yards per carry during his career and was 26th among RBs in receiving yards. Over his last four seasons he averaged under 4.0 yards per carry. We’re comparing different eras, and that’s tough to do. Van Buren was clearly the greatest of his era but he's No. 3 on our list.
2. Brian Westbrook: The Eagles’ franchise record holder with 9,785 scrimmage yards and third in rushing yards, behind Montgomery and McCoy. During the six years from 2003 through 2008, Westbrook trailed only hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson and Clinton Portis in scrimmage yards, his 4.6 average was 3rd-highest in the league, behind Tiki Barber and Fred Taylor, and his 3,523 receiving yards were nearly 600 more than any other running back. His 28 receiving TDs during that period were twice as many as any other running back. Like Van Buren, a big-time playoff performer. To this day, one of only three players – along with Marshall Faulk and James Brooks – with 30 TDs both receiving and rushing. You can make a pretty darn compelling case for Westbrook (or Van Buren) at No. 1.
1. LeSean McCoy: In McCoy’s relatively brief six years with the Eagles, he was second to Adrian Peterson in rushing yards and second to Matt Forte among RBs in scrimmage yards. His 76 rushing yards per game and 101 scrimmage yards per game are 2nd-highest in Eagles history, behind only Watters – who was only here three seasons. Despite playing only the 6th-most games by an Eagles running back, he’s the franchise record holder with 6,792 yards. His 4.6 rushing average is second in Eagles history to Sanders and was 3rd-highest behind A.P. and Jamaal Charles while he was an Eagle. He averaged 5.0 yards per carry in the fourth quarter during his Eagles career – 5th-highest in the league during that span. From 2009 through 2014, McCoy averaged 1,132 rushing yards, 1,512 scrimmage yards, 4.6 yards per carry and nine TDs. Montgomery and Westbrook are the only other Eagles backs to even have one such season. His eight 4th-quarter rushing TDs of at least 40 yards are most in NFL history. And if it weren’t for Chip Kelly trading him for Kiko Alonso, Shady would have put up even more impressive numbers. Remember, in his first three years in Buffalo, he averaged 1,465 scrimmage yards per season and made three more Pro Bowls. That should have been here. Explosive, dynamic, consistent.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.