Darren Sproles is the Eagles' Swiss Army Knife. "You can use him," head coach Chip Kelly said last week, "in a million different ways."
That sounds great, doesn't it? And it opens up all kinds of possibilities for the versatile Sproles, who is part of the talented new-look offensive backfield that includes newly signed free agents DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews.
"He's an integral part in what we're doing here," Kelly said.
Sproles made it to the Pro Bowl in his first season with the Eagles and was also a second-team All-Pro return man, and he made the most of his reps within the offense. Sproles was on the field for 337 of the team's 1,176 offensive plays (29 percent) in 2014. Sproles had 57 rushing attempts and 40 receptions, gaining 716 total yards from the line of scrimmage and averaging 7.4 yards per touch.
The anticipated pairing with LeSean McCoy didn't quite work as many fans anticipated. The two were on the field together for only 38 snaps.
Obviously, the landscape is totally different in the Eagles' backfield now. McCoy was traded to Buffalo in exchange for linebacker Kiko Alonso. The Eagles landed Murray and Mathews in free agency.
In his first year as an Eagle, sprightly running back Darren Sproles revolutionized the Eagles' punt return game and provided a big spark each week on offense ...
Sproles carried his trademark 43 into the City of Brotherly Love and instantly endeared himself to the Philly faithful with one heck of a 2014 season.
With the Eagles trailing 17-0 at halftime of Week 1, Sproles exploded for 51 yards and a touchdown in the first minutes of the second half.
Sproles' first touchdown of the year -- the first by an Eagle -- spurred a 34-point second-half explosion and a come-from-behind win for the Birds.
Sproles' first appearance with the Birds in primetime yielded an eye-popping 152 receiving yards and a rushing touchdown in a Monday Night win over the Colts.
In his first three games of the year, Sproles proved his versatility: he cobbled together 117 rushing yards, 196 receiving yards, and 114 punt return yards.
At San Francisco in Week 4, Sproles torched the 49ers for an 82-yard punt return, his first of the season.
The return was Sproles' longest punt return touchdown of his career, and his fourth since 2007.
Sproles carried the ball seven times for 51 yards against the Rams in Week 5 for an impressive 7.3 yards-per-carry average in the win.
On Black Sunday in Week 6, Sproles contributed a 43-yard punt return and 39 rush yards, including this rushing touchdown, as the Eagles shut out the Giants.
After missing Week 8 with an injury, Sproles returned with 90 more multi-purpose yards in the Birds' Week 9 win at Houston.
Sproles broke out his monster punt return game again in Week 10, taking his second return to the house against the Panthers.
Sproles' teammates celebrate his second punt return touchdown of the year with him. It marked the first time Sproles returned two punts for touchdowns in the same season.
Sproles would later tack on an eight-yard TD run, and he's pictured here saluting the Eagles fans after the touchdown that capped quite a night for the back.
Sproles ran for yet another touchdown in Week 12 against the Titans, his fifth on the year. Before 2014, Sproles had never run for more than three TDs in a single season.
Sproles would go on to earn AP second-team votes and a Pro Bowl spot for the first time in his career.
In Week 15, Sproles scored his sixth rushing touchdown of the year on a three-yard scamper against Dallas.
In Week 16, Sproles caught six passes for 43 yards against Washington.
Sproles finished his 10th year in the league with career highs in rushing touchdowns (6), punt return yards (506), punt return average (13.0), and punt return touchdowns (2).
Kelly is committed to running the football and he's got great options with three players who have played in Pro Bowls. The expectation is that Murray and Mathews will use their one-cut, downhill style and play physical football and receive a majority of the rushing attempts. Sproles will get his touches as the Eagles expand the creativity with which they use him.
Certainly, Sproles will continue as the team's punt return man after leading the NFL last season with a 13-yard average on 39 returns, including a pair of touchdowns. He could possibly help in the kickoff return game -- Sproles has a career average of 25.3 yards per kickoff return with two touchdowns scored on 329 returns -- although the Eagles have Chris Polk and Josh Huff, each of whom scored a touchdown on a kickoff return last year -- on the roster and is skilled at the drill.
Where Sproles could see his role change quite a bit is in how the Eagles use him in the passing game. After seasons in which Sproles caught 86 passes (2011), 75 (2012) and then 71 (2013) as a member of the New Orleans Saints, Sproles caught 40 passes in 2014. The Eagles spread the football around effectively and moved the football up and down the field, and Sproles was productive even when he didn't have the ball in his hands. Defenses double teamed him and they chipped in at the line of scrimmage and they did everything possible to prevent Sproles from creating space in single coverage against an overmatched linebacker.
As the Eagles tweak their offensive scheme, Sproles' skills very much come into play. He can be used on wheel routes out of the backfield, setting up a linebacker in the flat and then outracing him to the sideline for an easy pitch and catch from the quarterback. Sproles can displace out of the backfield and force a linebacker or a safety to match up in space at the line of scrimmage. He can walk out wide and line up as a receiver.
Think about the way the Patriots utilized running back Shane Vereen last season. Vereen caught 52 passes in the regular season and then was a move-the-chains weapon in New England's Super Bowl path, catching 18 passes in the three wins. Vereen had 11 receptions for 64 yards in the Super Bowl victory over Seattle. Five of those catches gained first downs.
On New England's touchdown drive that scored what turned out to be the winning points, quarterback Tom Brady went to Vereen four times in the passing game and Vereen also ran once.
Sproles brings more explosiveness to the arena, though. There are just so few players with the kind of short-area quickness that Sproles has. In 2014 he had the 49-yard touchdown to help ignite the Eagles in their comeback win over Jacksonville in the opener and then gained 178 yards from scrimmage -- including two receptions that each gained more than 50 yards -- with a bruising 19-yard touchdown run to help beat the Colts.
The touches from the line of scrimmage decreased after the Week 1 win over the Jaguars (15 touches) and the Week 2 thriller in Indianapolis (11 touches). Only once more, in the Week 16 loss at Washington, did Sproles hit double figures (10, for a total of 67 yards) in touches in a single game.
How Kelly and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur scheme to use Sproles in 2015 is one of the interesting developments for the offense. Does Sproles become more of a receiver than a running back? Is he going to be the third-down machine that the Eagles use to get in space to destroy linebackers who just can't contain him in single coverage?
