Wendell Smallwood will be one of Washington’s top three running backs against the Eagles

Wendell Smallwood will be one of Washington’s top three running backs when the Redskins take on the Philadelphia Eagles starting at 1:00 PM Eastern today.

NFL insider Ian Rapoport reports that Washington will be making their 2018 leading rusher — Adrian Peterson — a healthy scratch on Sunday.

Peterson ran for 1,042 yards (4.2 yards per carry) last year. 98 of those yards came on 12 carries against the Eagles. Take out his 90-yard touchdown run, though, and Peterson only had eight yards on 11 carries against Philly’s defense.

Instead of relying on Peterson, Washington will turn to 2018 second-round pick Derrius Guice to be their new lead back. Guice is an intriguing talent but he’s also coming off an ACL injury. The second-year rusher’s only NFL production thus far consists of 17 preseason carries for 63 yards, which comes out to a 3.7 average.

Washington’s second primary back is Chris Thompson, who contributes in the passing attack in addition to being an efficient runner on limited carries (5.0 career average).

That makes Smallwood — who was waived by the Eagles last weekend — the third back in Washington’s rotation. It’s hard to envision him having a big role on offense but he will play on special teams.

Smallwood told reporters he doesn’t plan on giving the Eagles’ secrets away but he did say he wants to “whoop up” on his former team.

It’s up to the Eagles to not let Smallwood get his revenge in the form of a Washington win.