Former Georgia football back Elijah Holyfield waived by Philadelphia Eagles

Elijah Holyfield is back on the market. The former Georgia football star running back was recently cut by the Philadelphia Eagles after nine months with the team.

Holyfield was one of three running backs and 12 players overall released by the Eagles on Thursday. However, the Eagles may offer Holyfield a spot on the practice squad. Philadelphia only has three backs on the roster currently.

Since his surprise decision to leave the Bulldogs after his junior season, Holyfield's NFL career has gone through a rocky start. He infamously posted a paltry 4.78 in the 40-yard-dash. His dash time drew mixed reviews, with some dismissing Holyfield as lacking speed, while others claimed his time was a poor representation of his "football speed."

Regardless, Holyfield slipped out of the 2019 NFL Draft entirely and later joined the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent. The Panthers waived Holyfield last September before resigning him to the practice squad. When Holyfield contract with Carolina expired in December, Philadelphia signed him to its active roster. However, he never recorded a carry as an Eagle.

So far, Holyfield's NFL career isn't too different from his career at Georgia. He only carried the ball six times for 29 yards as a freshman in 2016. Holyfield was more productive as a sophomore with 50 carries for 293 yards, but he was still the No. 5 back on the depth chart.

Ample opportunities opened up for Holyfield entering his junior season and he made the most of them. Holyfield rushed for 1,018 yards on 159 carries with seven touchdowns. Alongside D'Andre Swift, Holyfield was a part of just the second duo in school history to pass 1,000 rushing yards each.

Time will tell if Holyfield's professional trajectory will match his college trajectory. If any year could be his breakout season, it would be 2020. Injuries are already common at the running back position, add in a potential COVID-19 outbreak, Holyfield's opportunities could come at someone else's expense.

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