Team news: Carolina Panthers | Page 41

As for how playing time shakes out, I think Jordan Howard begins the season as the lead back and Corey Clement begins the season as the primary third-down back, but Miles Sanders eats away their snaps and touches as the season goes on.

Related players: Wendell Smallwood, Josh Adams, Boston Scott, Donnel Pumphrey

The story went on to say Sanders is a talented young back playing catch-up after missing OTAs, and it’s going to be hard to keep him off the field if he takes the expected strides. The story also mentioned BostonScott winning the fourth RB spot, meaning Wendell Smallwood and Josh Adams could very well get cut. Both played key roles last year after injuries to Corey Clement and Jay Ajayi.

Rookie running back Miles Sanders will face two opponents during training camp this summer: the Philadelphia Eagles' defense, and time.

Sanders, the dynamic back out Penn State who was taken 53rd overall by Philly in the 2019 NFL draft, sat out most of the spring with a hamstring injury, robbing him of precious reps as he acclimates to the pros. That leaves just training camp and the preseason for Sanders to show the coaching staff he is ready for a significant role right out of the chute.

"I fully expect him to come in ready, come in healthy, ready to go," coach Doug Pederson said. "We have to get him in the mix early. Definitely have to see exactly where he is mentally from all the mental reps that he took this spring, and slowly work him into the mix and see just how he can help us on game day."

Related players: Jordan Howard, Corey Clement

The story said Sanders' rise to the top could be gradual with Howard in the picture and the fact the Eagles have been most successful when using a committee approach at RB. Howard is quietly third in the NFL in rushing since 2016. We had a story on Sanders recently that said he still needs to work on ball security, pass blocking and receiving.

Corey Clement spent some of spring practices running on a side field, but he has not yet practiced with the team. Realistically, Clement is the only running back on the team the offensive staff can count on to be a contributor in the passing game, and is the clear "passing down" back with Darren Sproles not on the roster. The Eagles need him to be healthy for the regular season.

Related players: Miles Sanders

Clement was huge for the Eagles in 2017 in both the run and pass, which included 100 receiving yards and a TD in the Super Bowl, but in 2018 he dealt with injuries so the Birds need him to get back to form in 2019. Sanders, the story said, needs to work on pass protection, receiving and ball security in camp, but is already behind due to an injury this spring.

Jordan Howard will likely be the starter to start the season, and he'll be sort of the physical "meat and potatoes" guy who will (a) get you the yards that are blocked up for him, (b) handle the lion's share of the short yardage situations, and (c) grind out carries in the second half if the team is able to get comfortable leads on their opponents.

Related players: Miles Sanders

The story said Howard is an upgrade in all three of those departments from last year. Meanwhile, Sanders missed time in the offseason workouts and is behind as a result, according to the story. He'll also need to work on ball security, pass protection and receiving.

Eagles RB coach Duce Staley said he’s happy with how both RBs Jordan Howard and Miles Sanders approached their first taste of the offense and with the growth they showed before it was time to scatter until training camp.

“I think that you talk to those guys, they’ll all tell you that . . . to get better, which you want those guys to think that way, be humble, especially when it comes to catching the ball and understand where to be,” Staley said, via PennLive.com. “That’s one of my things as far as route running. You’ve got to understand the offense, and you’ve got to understand the progression of the offense, which is very important. And for those two guys to come in and kind of learn that rather quickly, I’m very pleased.”

Related players: Corey Clement, Wendell Smallwood

A lot will need to be sorted out when it comes to the Eagles RBs. Sanders had an injury in early team workouts so he may be behind a bit. That could leave Howard and Clement splitting work early in the season. But Sanders is expected to be ready for camp and a force this year. We actually have Sanders ranked as the back to own in Philly but there looks to be a lot of mouths to feed in the backfield.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor opted to install the team’s offense to the entire group of offensive players rather than doing it in position groups and that was probably a good approach for Giovani Bernard.

Bernard is still listed as a running back, but he spent the spring doing more than just taking handoffs from Andy Dalton while lining up in the backfield.

Bernard also split out wide as a receiver when he wasn’t a single back or to Dalton’s side in the shotgun and he said he’s enjoyed the introduction to the offense. The story said Bernard just wants to go out and make a play.

After missing out on the Cleveland Browns' head coaching job, Kevin Stefanski will return to Minnesota.

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Stefanski is expected to return as the Vikings' full-time offensive coordinator, per a source informed of the situation.

Stefanski took over in Minnesota with three games left in the 2018 season after the Vikings jettisoned OC John DeFilippo. The Vikes offense got back to the ground game in the first two outings of the 36-year-old's play-calling career, compiling 320 rushing yards in back-to-back victories.

The Vikings offense, however, struggled brutally in the must-win season finale, compiling just 164 total yards in a loss to the Bears that dashed Minnesota's playoff plans.

Returning as full-time offensive coordinator, Stefanski will be tasked with unleashing an offense that vastly underperformed expectations in 2018. Despite a star running back in Dalvin Cook, two 1,000-plus-yard receivers in Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, and an $84 million quarterback in Kirk Cousins, the Vikings were an inconsistent mess this season. If the Vikings can't finally figure out their offensive line issues in 2019, it likely won't matter who is calling plays.

After firing DeFilippo, HC Mike Zimmer demanded that Stefanski establish the run game. Under DeFilippo, the Vikings averaged 40.3 pass attempts and just 21.1 rush attempts, a 65.7% pass rate. In three games under Stefanski, Minnesota averaged 27.3 pass attempts and 27.7 rush attempts for a 49.7% pass rate. The team's offensive pace slowed from 61.4 plays per game under DeFilippo to 55.0 plays per game under Stefanski. Kirk Cousins and the passing game suffered in the final three games, as his fantasy PPG dropped from 17.6 PPG to 15.8 PPG. Meanwhile, Dalvin Cook's usage spiked--he averaged 14.9 touches per game under DeFilippo and 18.0 touches per game with Stefanski calling the plays. His PPG (PPR) was 17.7 over the final three games after averaging 12.9 PPG in eight games under DeFilippo. Adam Thielen's averages (21.8 vs. 8.0) took a major hit while Stefon Diggs' production (18.4 vs. 14.5) also dipped. Keep in mind that one of the three games was at home against the Bears, who own the top defense in the league. Still, the Stefanski full-time hire looks to be good for Cook and bad for Cousins, Thielen and Diggs.