Eagles draft primer: Bijan Robinson or the field? Breaking down running back prospects

By April 28th, Bijan Robinson will either join Keith Byars or Ricky Williams in Eagles lore.

The Texas running back is one of the best players in the 2023 NFL draft and should make an immediate impact for whichever offense he joins. He also reportedly took an official visit at the NovaCare Complex this past week.

The Eagles signed Rashaad Penny and Boston Scott in free agency but still have space for a featured running back if the draft presents value at the position.

So, will Robinson break the Eagles’ 36-year streak of avoiding running backs in the first round of the draft? Or will he follow Williams’ path as a Texas standout passed over by the Eagles on draft night?

“I know Howie [Roseman] doesn’t take running backs,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said last month. “... But when you look at that offense with Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert, and all of a sudden you drop in Bijan Robinson into that mix, holy moley. That would be fun to watch.

“He is a special, special player,” Jeremiah added. “One of the best backs we’ve seen in the last several years.”

Assuming the Eagles’ conviction on spending premium assets on premium positions leads them to skip over Robinson with the 10th pick, the landscape at No. 30 overall and again in the second and third rounds should still offer quality solutions to the Miles Sanders-size hole in their backfield depth chart.

Here’s a breakdown of Robinson and the rest of the 2023 running back class:

Bijan Robinson, Texas

Robinson is the complete package as a running back. He’s got long speed, short-area quickness, and explosiveness. He can run through arm tackles and is a plus in the passing game either out of the backfield or split out wide.

The 5-foot-11, 215-pound back profiles as a three-down contributor and an immediate difference maker. He had two years of heavy work with the Longhorns and dealt with some minor injuries during that stretch, but he still ran for 2,700 yards and had 35 total touchdowns in those two years.

Simply put, Robinson is the best running-back prospect since Saquon Barkley and could easily have a similar level of impact in his first season.

Jahmyr Gibbs, Alabama

Gibbs is the latest in a long line of Alabama running backs poised to be a difference-maker at the next level.

The 5-foot-9, 199-pound back ran a 4.36-second 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine. That speed is impossible to miss on tape. Gibbs looked athletically superior even on college football’s biggest stages and should be able to create for himself because of his speed and agility. He’s also an ideal fit in the modern game because of his fluidity as a receiver and figures to be a major part of any passing game. While he doesn’t quite have the same contact balance or the lower-body strength, it’s hard not to see shades of Alvin Kamara.

He may not be viewed as a true three-down back because of his size, but a creative offensive staff like the Eagles’ under Nick Sirianni should be able to maximize his ability. It is important to note that the Eagles offense is structured around running backs staying in pass protection and tight ends going out on routes more often, which is a hurdle for Sirianni and his staff, but one that may be worth exploring for a dynamic player like Gibbs.

» READ MORE: unCovering the Birds with Jeff McLane. The new Eagles-focused podcast from the Inquirer drops its first episode on March 24th!

Zach Charbonnet, UCLA

In many ways, Charbonnet is the inverse of Gibbs. He’s a three-down running back capable of winning with physicality or quickness. He’s the type of back you can trust to make the first guy miss and occasionally will shed multiple tacklers for extra yards.

His long speed is more than adequate — he ran a 4.53-second 40-yard dash at 6-foot, 214 pounds at the combine. He has ideal vision as a downhill runner as well. He doesn’t offer as much in the pass game as Gibbs or Robinson and was a four-year contributor with a heavier workload than you’d like to see in college.

In terms of bell-cow running backs expected to be available on Day 2 of the draft, Charbonnet is arguably the best. He should be an immediate starter at the next level.

Tank Bigsby, Auburn

Bigsby is an ankle-breaking runner with a scary ability to cut, shake, or shimmy his way into open space. Unlike some of the gadget guys listed later, he’s not totally dependent on plays out on the perimeter, though. The 6-foot, 210-pound back can get tough yards inside the tackles and had three years of quality production as the featured runner in Auburn’s offense.

His film, especially against Penn State, reveals plenty of moves that forced defenders to “touch grass” or fall over completely. He had 30 catches last season but isn’t as much of a threat in the passing game as some of the others in the class. His athletic testing wasn’t eye-popping, which might hurt his draft stock a little. He ran a 4.56-second 40-yard dash, and was 26th-percentile in the vertical jump and 54th in the broad jump.

All in all, Bigsby is a bell-cow type running back with high upside because of his special ability to make people miss in open space.

Zach Evans, Ole Miss

Evans’ running style has a fluidity that makes him look as if he’s moving at a different speed than defenders. The former five-star recruit can accelerate and decelerate with relative ease and can run through arm tackles at 5-11, 202 pounds. Evans is another explosive-play generator. According to PFF, 48.3% of his yards in college came on runs of 15 yards or more.

Evans wasn’t a high-usage back at Ole Miss or at TCU the two years before; he had 144 carries last season but just 146 in the two previous years. The benefit is less wear and tear, but it comes at the expense of vision and polish. It’s also important to note that Evans wasn’t much of a factor in the passing game and struggled with drops.

Kendre Miller, TCU

Miller is a strong runner with impressive creativity and balance when working around tacklers. Against some teams, particularly Oklahoma, he looked impossible to tackle because of his quickness and 220-pound frame. Such is life in the Big 12.

Against higher-tier defenses, Miller still did a nice job earning extra yards mostly with cuts and an ability to maintain his balance even as he’s tripped up or stumbling forward. He’s not exactly the type to run through a defender, but he can work around them sufficiently and has the size to suggest he can hold up even as a high-usage back at the next level.

Overall, Miller is an agile, well-rounded running back who had only one year of heavy workload and doesn’t turn 21 until June.

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Devon Achane, Texas A&M

In a draft filled with outliers, Achane is one of the most intriguing.

He’s terrifyingly small and tantalizingly fast. He is just under 5-9 and 188 pounds, and not many players his size make an impact in the NFL. Still, his athletic profile is too impressive to ignore.

Achane ran a 4.32-second 40-yard dash and it shows up on tape in a major way. He ran the 100-meter for the Aggies track team and has the acceleration and top-end speed of a sprinter. Even against SEC competition he proved to be an angle-destroying runner who could gain a step on anyone.

Even as a smaller back, Achane has solid contact balance and can bounce off soft tackles. He doesn’t profile as a workhorse or an every-down back, but he’s the epitome of a gadget guy capable of generating explosive plays and striking fear in defenders with his speed.

Tyjae Spears, Tulane

Spears is a slashing runner who looks more like an NBA point guard than a football player when he plants his foot into the ground and changes direction.

The 5-10, 201-pound back was a bell cow for the Green Wave, but his size and lack of power make him more of a situational back rather than an every-down guy. Still, he has legitimate value because of his change-of-direction ability and his burst; Spears’ tape is riddled with violent cuts both as a ballcarrier and a route-runner. He gets back up to speed quickly and outruns linebackers with regularity up to the third level.

His cutting ability sometimes leads to his staying horizontal rather than getting downhill and his lack of explosion through contact make his transition to the NFL more difficult to prognosticate. Still, he finished top 10 in yards after contact and explosive runs last season, according to PFF, and has real upside as a key part of a rotation.

Keaton Mitchell, East Carolina

Mitchell is the epitome of a gadget guy. He’s 5-8 and 179 pounds and isn’t going to push many piles. His selling points are the 4.37-second 40-yard dash he ran at the scouting combine and the scary open-field speed he showcases on tape. His short-area quickness and top-end speed made him one of the most explosive players in college football last season. Mitchell led the league in explosive runs last year, which is important considering the Eagles’ prioritization of explosive plays.

Finding a role for Mitchell will be the biggest challenge, especially for the Eagles as they already have two smaller backs, but his ability in open space is noteworthy.

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