Rookie SWOT: Wendell Smallwood

Editor’s Note: As our coverage of the 2016 NFL Draft and its impact on fantasy football continues, we bring you our 2016 Rookie SWOT series. These articles will feature video highlights, combine reviews, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, short-term expectations, long-term expectations and rookie draft advice for over 30 of the best dynasty league prospects from this year’s draft. We’ll follow that up with team-by-team draft reviews because, you know, that’s kind of what we live for.

Make sure you’re ready for your dynasty league rookie draft by staying up on all these articles, checking out our rookie draft guide, rookie rankings, rookie draft cheat sheet and mock draft rooms. There are simply no better resources out there for dynasty fantasy football enthusiasts.

Name: Wendell Smallwood

Position: Running Back

Pro Team: Philadelphia Eagles

College Team: West Virginia Mountaineers

Draft Status: Round Five, No. 153 overall

Video Highlights

Combine Review

Height: 5’10’’

Weight: 208 Pounds

Hands: 9 ¼’’

Arm Length: 30 ½’’

Bench Press (225 LBS): 14 Reps

40-Yard-Dash: 4.47 Seconds

3-Cone-Drill: 6.83 Seconds

20-Yard-Shuttle: 4.28 Seconds

Vertical Jump: 33.5 Inches

Broad Jump: 120 Inches

Strengths

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Smallwood is very good at quickly making his first cut, and getting down hill without hesitation allows him to efficiently get through the running lane. He does a very good job of keeping his pad level low, which helps him deliver as much force as possible during the point of contact. He catches the ball well and was very productive as a pass-catcher out of the backfield with 65 receptions for 618 yards during his three-year collegiate career. Smaller running backs are usually not effective in pass protection, but Smallwood is a rare breed because he’s very cerebral when it comes picking up the blitz.

Weaknesses

Smallwood could benefit by gaining a few extra pounds to help absorb the punishment from running the football. His thin frame doesn’t fit the mold of the typical three-down running back, which might limit his opportunities in the future. He’s not an explosive runner and he lacks the ability to create yards by making defenders miss in the open field. There are character concerns with Smallwood, in 2014 he was arrested for intimidating a witness to a murder case, but the charges was dropped after the defendant, Zakee Lloyd, plead guilty to second degree murder.

Opportunities

Philadelphia is one of the most running back-needy teams in the NFL and they were pegged in many mock drafts to select Ezekiel Elliott with their first round pick, but as we now know he went fourth overall to the Dallas Cowboys. Ryan Mathews appears to be the only back that’s in his way from taking over the lead running back duties for the team. His ability to quickly get “north-south” while running the football and his diligence in the passing game will increase his chances of seeing the field.  Anything can happen, but the Eagles are not considered one of the best teams in the league which means they could find themselves trailing during a good portion of their games. The game-flow is often going to create opportunities for Smallwood to be utilized as a receiver out of the backfield, elevating his value in PPR leagues.

Threats

Ryan Mathews is the most talented back on the roster and if he goes the entire season without getting injured then it’s going to put Smallwood’s breakout rookie season on the back burner. Even with injuries plaguing his career, Mathews has averaged 4.5 yards per attempt during his entire career while being very effective in the passing game by catching 166 receptions for 1,256 yards and two touchdowns.

Only a few running backs in the entire league are safe from the next year’s rookie running back class. The Eagles only spent a fifth round pick on Smallwood and they are not going to think twice about selecting one of the blue chip running backs if they can get one at the right price.

Short-Term Expectations

His usage is going to be very volatile during the first year of his career and his workload is going to be dependent on the health of Ryan Mathews. That being said, Smallwood’s weekly snap count won’t provide enough productivity in fantasy to matter for your fantasy team if Mathews remains healthy during the entire year. It’s sad to say, but Mathews’ injury history makes Smallwood more appealing and compared to most running backs, Mathews is more likely to get injured due to his pre-existing conditions. An injury to Mathews could make Smallwood a hot commodity in fantasy.

Long-Term Expectations

There’s no way they are going to get around it – the Eagles are going to draft or sign more running backs in the future which is going to log jam the roster. More than likely, Smallwood will end up becoming a rotational running back in a committee. The fact that he has the ability to catch passes out of the backfield will help him hold value in PPR leagues.

NFL Comparison

When analyzing his athletic traits, you will discover that he is almost a carbon copy of Bishop Sankey. Both players are similar when it comes to size, speed and quickness. They are also very similar when it comes to how they play on the field, both players can run with the appropriate pad level and they are both very decisive before hitting the hole.

When you compare Smallwood to Shane Vereen, you will find out that both running backs share a lot of the same traits as they both are very good at catching the ball out of the backfield and they are both decent at running between that tackles.

Projected Range for Rookie Drafts

According to DLF’s Rookie ADP , Smallwood is being drafted in the middle of the third round of rookie drafts and from my experiences I have seen him go anywhere from the late second round to the late third round in drafts. In DLF’s rookie rankings he is currently ranked twelfth amongst running backs and thirty-seventh overall.

I might be overvaluing Smallwood a little bit, but I think he merits being selected in the early third to late second round range of rookie drafts. Opportunity is half the battle for running backs and he landed on one of the best depth charts in the league and he should get an opportunity for touches early in his career. Face it – there’s not much depth in this year’s draft class and Smallwood could become a valuable asset because he’s an injury away from seeing a large volume of touches.

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