Expect More 'Big Fred' Packages From Eagles Moving Forward

PHILADELPHIA - The vaunted Eagles running game was kick-started in a big way during a 38-20 rout of the New York Giants on Sunday. A "big" reason why was the 13 personnel looks where seventh-year offensive tackle Fred Johnson served as an honorary TE on National Tight Ends Day.

The 6-foot-7, 326-pound swing tackle gave some extra oomph to Philadelphia’s jumbo packages in a game where the Eagles rushed for an NFL season-best 276 yards.

Both All-Pro running back Saquon Barkley (150) and his understudy, Tank Bigsby (104), reached the century mark in the win, which improved Philadelphia to 6-2 at the Week 9 bye. It marked the first time two Eagles runners reached 100 in the same game since 2013, when LeSean McCoy and Bryce Brown did it against Buffalo.

Johnson was in the middle of it all, creating unbalanced line looks while masquerading as a TE during 12 of the team’s 33 rushing attempts. The result was 129 yards on those plays, over 10.0 yards per clip.

The Eagles have gotten plenty of unscouted looks early in the season, many of which have included loaded boxes and made it more difficult to generate the kind of combo blocks that have defined the Jeff Stoutland-fueled running game over the years.

New Look

Eagles OT Fred Johnson at practice on Oct. 16, 2024 | John McMullen/Eagles on SI

By adding Johnson into the mix, the Eagles were able to generate more favorable blocking matchups up front.

“A lot,” star tight end Dallas Goedert said when asked by Eagles On SI how much Johnson helped the running game in the 13 personnel look. “The honorary tight end of the week, Fred. I’ll give him that.

“He’s been doing a great job coming in there, getting a little more movement, getting big packages, and we’ve had great play actions off it as well.”

Head coach Nick Sirianni pointed to Johnson’s previous stints at tackle when needed and noted it’s a good idea to find ways to get good football players onto the field.

“I think Fred does a really good job. Every time Fred's in at tackle when he's had to spell Lane [Johnson] or Jordan [Mailata], he's just done a really nice job,” Sirianni said. “I'm really happy to have him back because we really trust Fred. I think that talk was just about, 'Hey, how do we get him on the field?'

“It's just like how you would want to get a receiver on the field or a tight end on the field or a running back on the field, like Tank. Same thing with Fred. He's done such a good job, he's been so productive when he has been in. We're just trying to find a way to get him on the field and he's been really productive in that aspect as well. It's just about trying to put your players in positions to succeed and getting your best 11 out there for whatever you're seeing that week.”

The success Philadelphia has had with the idea foreshadows more of the package moving forward.

“I think when you do stuff like that, you just add another element to the offense,” offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo said Tuesday. “When you bring in a different personnel package, you're opening up to what could be a variety of different things, whether it's play action passes, runs, drop backs.

“When you do that, you can put the defense in a different spot to where now you're saying like, 'Hey, you have to prepare for this. We're going to have something for you.' I think it definitely helps the offense as a whole, not just the run game, but it gives you a different dynamic. It's not something we've done, so it's been a new thing for us going forward.”

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