clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Evan Silva: Fumbling isn't Bryce Brown's only problem

USA TODAY Sports

Eagles running back Bryce Brown is coming off an up-and-down rookie year, but his potential has everyone associated with the team excited about his future. Despite his inability to hold onto the ball last season, Brown showed enough natural running and catching ability that his prospects are both intriguing and potentially monumental in Chip Kelly's running back rotation. Rotoworld's Evan Silva recently did a fantastic write-up on the second-year player and discussed his strengthens and weaknesses after reviewing his tape from the last season.

According Silva, while fumbling was a clear issue with Brown, his frequent habit of being a "run-bouncer" is another trait that the Kansas State alum must fix. Here is what Silva had to say about Brown's less-publicized weakness:

Brown's lack of passion for college football does not define him as a football player. He is an extremely aggressive runner, often to a fault. Aside from four fumbles (three lost), the biggest problem with Brown's first-year game tape was a maddening tendency to bounce runs that were designed to go inside, to the outside. Brown is a 225-pound power back whose strength is getting north-south downhill. When he tried turning inside runs into perimeter runs, Brown became an east-west "run bouncer," leaving solid 3-5 yard gains on the field in favor of boom-or-bust attempts to get the edge. This made Brown highly susceptible to lost-yardage and no-gain runs.

Silva says "run-bouncing" is fixable and also acknowledged the habit may be attributed to his lack of college experience. The former top high school prospect bounced around from the University of Tennessee to Kansas State's bench. He only appeared in a handful of college games before being selected by the Eagles in last year's draft.

Brown is in prime position to be a major player for the Eagles. If he can improve on his gap recognition and fumbling issues, Brown and LeSean McCoy could be the scariest one-two punch in the league. It is now on Brown to prove he deserves the hype that he created last year after back-to-back games of 100 yards or more.

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for the Bleeding Green Nation Daily Roundup newsletter!

A daily roundup of all your Philadelphia Eagles news from Bleeding Green Nation