Remember LeSean McCoy didn’t just show up at Pitt and start. No, he shared with LaRod Stephens-Howling who was the starter. Of course, Howling got banged up early and opened things for McCoy to take the job.
Now, McCoy is with the Eagles to back-up and eventually take over from Brian Westbrook. Well, maybe not eventually. Westbrook has injury history and even as he was recovering from knee surgery, he has hurt his ankle and will need minor surgery on it. Westbrook will likely be out until at least the start of the regular season.
That has McCoy and Lorenzo Booker taking all the snaps in camp right now. McCoy is saying the right cliche.
“I’m not even thinking about that,” McCoy said. “[Westbrook’s] one of the best backs in the league. I’m here, actually, just to help him. I’m trying to get where he’s at. I’m still learning.”
He is all about the learning.
“I’m like a sponge,” McCoy said. “I want to soak up everything I can.”
Though most of his time in practice has been to work on pass blocking. To say nothing of just learning the playbook.
There is no question, though, that Eagle fans now see McCoy taking a bigger role earlier.
It also suddenly places the selection of McCoy in a different light. The emphasis pre-draft was on finding a complement to No. 36, but instead the rookie could find himself in position to make an immediate contribution, perhaps even as the starter. The two have a very similar skill set, so we can only hope McCoy is able to pick up the playbook and fill in right away if necessary.
Especially since no one has any expectations of usefulness from Lorenzo Booker. Other than Booker’s own delusions.
I get the feeling Reid will play Booker in the first game or two because he is a veteran and knows the offense, blah blah blah. In effect this will be almost identical to the Pitt situation when McCoy split reps with Hot Rod for 3 games until Wanny realized how talented a player he had on his hands at the Michigan State game and it was Shady’s show from then out. I think during preseason, LeSean will show how much better he is and a game or two into the regular season, will have eliminated Booker from the competition. That being said, this is Philadelphia and we do love Westbrook here, so I can’t see Brian losing all of his snaps until he is traded or retires. Philly faithful will not be too happy if Shady takes over solely because of injury unless Westbrook proves himself completely over the hill, which I just can’t see happening early this season. My prediction is that during the year we’ll see the two splitting reps about 60/40, maybe 50/50, unless Westbrook a) gets hurt again, or b) is averaging until 3.0ypc.