The last running back the Eagles drafted in the first round was Keith Byars. That was 32 years ago.
The last running back they took anywhere in the first three rounds was LeSean McCoy. Believe it not, that was nine years ago.
It's been true for decades, and it's still true today. The Eagles simply do not believe in using premium draft picks on running backs.
And it's hard to blame them.
The Eagles have had 61 picks in the first three rounds over the last 20 years and used just four of them on running backs – McCoy in the second round in 2009 and Brian Westbrook (2002), Ryan Moats (2005) and Tony Hunt (2007) in the third round.
Shady, who is well on his way to a Hall of Fame career, is actually the only running back the Eagles have taken in the first two rounds since Charlie Garner back in 1994.
"I think running backs the last few drafts you've been able to see guys contribute from every part of the draft," vice president of player personnel Joe Douglas said. "You think about third-round picks, guys like Dave Johnson, Kareem Hunt, Alvin Kamara. Those guys weren't first- or second-round picks."
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A lot of mock drafts and experts had the Eagles taking a running back in the first round of last year's running back-rich draft.
But they took a lineman, Derek Barnett, for the 19th time in their last 25 first-round picks.
And they managed to cobble together a running back corps that wound up third in the NFL in rushing yards despite not a single back taken in the first four rounds of the draft in a key role.
"Coming out of the draft everyone thought last year we needed to get a [running back] high," Douglas said.
"And we ended up addressing it acquiring one player in the draft (fourth-rounder Donnel Pumphrey, who didn't play), another player after the draft (Corey Clement) and then two more veterans after the draft (LeGarrette Blount and Jay Ajayi). So there's a lot of different ways you can get those guys."
Blount and Clement came into the NFL as undrafted rookies. Ajayi was a fifth-round pick. Darren Sproles and Wendell Smallwood were both late-round picks.
Add it all up and you have a Super Bowl backfield without a running back taken in the first 148 picks of a draft.
"We thought maybe there would be an opportunity to get one of those running backs [last year], maybe a different guy than Pump," executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman said.
"But we went and as a staff attacked it, getting LeGarrette, who had a great year and was really a huge part of our team, and then making a trade and getting Jay.
"We're going to attack it in the draft, we're going to attack it in June, we're going to attack it in August, and we're going to attack it at the trade deadline. … This is not the end of talent-acquisition season. It's really just starting."
Teams often will bypass even the most talented running backs in the first round simply because their shelf life is so limited.
For every Adrian Peterson, there are 10 Larry Johnsons, C.J. Spillers or Beanie Wells.
The last running back the Eagles took in the first round to rush for 750 yards in a season was Steve Van Buren.
They've drafted 10 since taking him in 1944.
But Douglas said the Eagles aren't philosophically opposed to taking a running back in the first round, although it's almost impossible to imagine them actually taking one.
"Great running backs are difference makers," Douglas said. "We've seen that in today's NFL. Special guys coming out of the backfield and can hurt you in the pass game. If it's the right player, we're not opposed to taking him."
