Carson Steele is Next Man up in Eagles Backfield

In 1990, the Eagles defeated the Washington Redskins 28-14 at the old Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. With nine Washington players lost due to injury during the contest, it was dubbed “The Body Bag Game.”

This Sunday was The Body Bag Game 2.0 as Tank Bigsby, Saquon Barkley, Quinyon Mitchell, Cam Jurgens, Jonathan Greenard all suffered injuries in Sunday’s 24-20 home loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

Following the carnage in Week 4, Will Shipley is the only healthy running back left on the Eagles active roster. Barkley is listed as day-to-day with a hamstring issue and Bigsby has been placed on injured reserve.

If no midweek trades are made, practice squad player Carson Steele would be a logical choice to step in and see some action in Week 5 as the Eagles will meet the Jacksonville Jaguars in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium the Sunday in London, England. The Eagles also have running backs Dameon Pierce and Jaydon Blue on the practice squad.

Undrafted in 2024, Steele is six-foot, 228-pounder from UCLA who spent his rookie year with the Kansas City Chiefs. That year, Steele played in all 17 games and totaled 56 carries for 183 yards. He also caught seven passes for 27 yards and logged 138 return yards for the eventual AFC champions. Steele did not see any regular season playing time in 2025. As a sophomore at Ball State in 2022, Steele led the Mid-American Conference with 1,556 rushing yards on 289 carries and 14 touchdowns.

Most recently, Steele saw action in all three Philadelphia preseason games this year. The soon-to-be 24-year-old was the club’s leading receiver in the preseason as he hauled in 14 receptions for 136 yards and two scores. Steele also contributed with 58 rushing yards and provided some intriguing highlight material as he hurdled over a couple of Patriots defenders.

Steele is a very fluid receiver out of the backfield who is not shy about helping out with pass protection. As a runner, he has good burst, runs with some power, and has quick feet for a taller running back. Granted preseason performances should be taken with a grain of salt, but elevating Steele to the active roster as the possible second or third back makes the most sense given the circumstances of Philadelphia’s banged-up backfield.