Wendell Smallwood is in and Josh Adams is out.
That might be the biggest surprise to come out of Saturday's Eagles roster cuts.
Smallwood, a third-year running back who's had trouble staying healthy, survived the Eagles' cut-down from 90 to 53, and Adams, who showed promise throughout training camp, was released.
Ironically, Smallwood - who missed large chunks of each of his first two NFL seasons - was the only Eagles running back to stay healthy throughout the preseason.
The Eagles also released second-year running back Donnel Pumphrey, their fourth-round pick last year, and veteran Matt Jones, the former Washington Redskin, leaving them with four running backs - Jay Ajayi, Corey Clement, Darren Sproles and Smallwood.
The 24-year-old Smallwood was the Eagles' fifth-round pick in 2016 out of West Virginia.
Smallwood was a real long shot when the preseason began, but he was the only back in the group to stay healthy throughout the preseason, and he didn't miss a rep in any of the practices or games.
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Smallwood spoke earlier this preseason about the changes he made that helped him stay healthy and productive throughout the preseason (see story).
Smallwood really helped himself with 54 rushing yards on 12 carries in the first half against the Browns and the combination of that performance and Adams' pedestrian performance against the Jets Thursday night in the preseason finale - 13 carries for just 27 yards - moved Smallwood past Adams, an undrafted rookie out of Warrington and Central Bucks South.
Smallwood is the most polished and experienced back in the bunch. He has 486 rushing yards, two TDs and a 3.9 average in two seasons and 19 catches for 158 yards.
The fourth running back spot isn't normally an important spot other than for special teams.
But with Ajayi's workload expected to be limited because of his creaky knees, Sproles expected to be only a role player at 35 years old and Clement probably most effective as a third-down back out of the backfield, Smallwood could conceivably play a role on offense.
The 21-year-old Adams ran 23 times for 90 yards in the preseason and if he clears waivers the Eagles are expected to try to add him to their practice squad. Pumphrey, 23, who has never played in an NFL game, is also a candidate for the practice squad.
