Eagles Rookie Josh Adams Look Solid in Debut

Philadelphia Eagles running back Josh Adams impressed in his preseason debut Thursday at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Running back Jay Ajayi started the game, looking good with a 22-yard carry, giving fans a preview of what’s to come this season.

But it was Adams who might have turned the most heads, with six carries for 30 yards and two catches for 11 yards. His best effort was a 15-yard run of the right side as broken down here by Brian Baldinger in one of his #BaldyBreakdowns

"How this guys didn't get drafted, I still don't know," Baldinger said.  'There is a little something, something in Josh Adams."

"I'm high on him," Baldinger added.

"Josh is just coming in. He's learning the system,' Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said about the undrafted rookie out of Notre Dame.  "We've sprinkled him in there. I thought he’s another one that ran extremely hard in the second half. Had some really nice runs around the ends. Just continues to grow. Continues to get better every day and stronger every day."

"He's a pretty good receiver out of the backfield, more of a check-down throws to him the other night."

The 21-year-old ran for 3.201 career yards and 20 touchdowns in his three years in South Bend before the Eagles signed him after the 2018 NFL Draft.

Adams impressed during his Notre Dame Pro Day, running an impressive 4.51, 40-yard dash and had one of the top three-cone times (6.78) in this year’s running back class.

Pederson complimented Adams on his ability to both run and block effectively, and it seems that he will have a legit shot to be in the Eagles backfield this season.

After Adams’ first appearance against an opposing team, Pederson sounded high on him.

"I thought Josh did a nice job. He did a really good job in protection, number one, catching the ball out of back field, and some of the runs, you can see how big and powerful he is when he hits the edge," Pederson said.

Pederson also had plenty of good things to say about Adams going back to the teams mini-camp back in May, when he said that he thought the rookie could follow in the foot-steps of Corey Clement, who made the team a year ago, as an undrafted free-agent.

"I do. This kid, [he’s a] tremendous athlete," Pederson explained. "He's big. He’s a powerful guy. Obviously, he's limited a little bit right now injury-wise, but I'm excited for this kid. Great opportunity for him to be around the type of backs that we have, the leadership that's in that room with Duce and then we get him going in training camp."