D’Andre Swift adds receiving versatility to Eagles’ backfield

As soon as the Eagles transitioned to a seven-on-seven team period on Sunday at training camp, quarterback Jalen Hurts targeted running back D’Andre Swift with a deep ball down the left sideline. Swift latched on to the ball while falling, evading coverage from linebacker Nicholas Morrow and safety Terrell Edmunds.

Swift’s snags have become givens in the early going of camp. He described his latest highlight-reel reception in clinical detail:

“Jalen [Hurts] made a check,” Swift said after practice. “Seen the alignment, the linebacker. He threw the ball up there, I just went and got it.”

For Swift, running routes out of the backfield and even at the line of scrimmage in empty sets is nothing new. The 24-year-old running back was utilized as a receiver at the University of Georgia (15.5 receiving yards per game over three seasons) and even more so with the Detroit Lions (30 receiving yards per game over three seasons). Swift’s 389 receiving yards ranked 11th in the league among running backs last season.

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But with an offense featuring talented pass-catchers A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert, running backs rarely served as Hurts’ targets last season. According to Pro Football Focus, the Eagles ranked 29th in running back targets (11.3%), as the two star wide receivers and tight end Goedert combined for roughly 69% of the team’s targets.

When general manager Howie Roseman traded for Swift in the offseason, sending a 2025 fourth-round pick and a 2023 seventh-rounder to Detroit, he added a piece that could help make the offense more versatile. In just three days of camp, coach Nick Sirianni said he has seen the “unique ability” that made Swift an attractive addition.

While the passing game will still run through Brown, Smith, and Goedert, Sirianni said that Swift’s receiving ability can be a boon for the offense, too.

“You’re harder to defend when you have a lot of guys at different positions that can do it,” Sirianni said. “You can be in these different personnel groups and still run similar plays for your quarterback. We’re excited about what we brings.”

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Swift isn’t the only running back in the mix for a role this season. The Eagles have a crowded running backs room, headlined by Swift, veteran free-agent addition Rashaad Penny, and returning players Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott. The team will likely take a by-committee approach as they look to replace the touches once allotted to Miles Sanders, who signed a four-year, $25.4 million contract with the Carolina Panthers in the offseason.

Although Penny hasn’t been leaned on as a receiver much in his five-year NFL career, averaging 5.3 receiving yards per game, he’s been impressed with the breadth of responsibilities assigned to the running backs in the Eagles offense.

“To see this many route trees for a running back is honestly kind of cool, because I never got to experience something like this for us to be in empty [backfield] a lot and to showcase our ability to catch the ball, being like a receiver,” Penny said. “The running backs can do a lot. We block, catch, and run, and I think everybody knows that.”

Swift has lived up to his reputation in a very limited showing, standing out to Penny with his pass-catching prowess.

“That’s his game,” Penny said. “He’s special. I feel like he can do it all.”

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This season, Swift has the potential to bring an unfamiliar element to an offense situated in a familiar city. Swift played his high school ball at St. Joseph’s Prep and was named the 2016 Pennsylvania Football Writers All-State Player of the Year when he picked up 1,564 rushing yards and 34 all-purpose touchdowns in his senior season.

Swift called the opportunity to play for the Eagles a “blessing,” savoring a chance to play at home in front of loved ones. His family hasn’t come to visit him yet at training camp as he focuses on getting acclimated to a new offense and a new team. But in just a short period of time, Swift said he’s been impressed with the Eagles’ culture.

“You wake up, you’re excited to go to work,” Swift said. “You come into this building, it’s a work mentality; I can see that in everybody in this building, from the training staff to the strength staff, to the people in the cafeteria. You want to come to work and perform every day, and you’ve got a coaching staff that demands the best and they take care of you as well.”

As training camp wears on, Swift will continue to build chemistry with Hurts and the rest of the offense. Whether he’s tabbed as a ball carrier or receiver on any given play, Swift is prepared to step up to the challenge.

“Whatever they ask me to do,” he said. “I’m going to do it to the best of my ability, whatever it is.”