Wendell Smallwood

Wendell Lynn Smallwood Jr.[1] (born January 20, 1994) is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. He played college football at West Virginia, and was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He has also played for the Washington Redskins.

Wendell Smallwood
Smallwood with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016
Free agent
Position:Running back
Personal information
Born: (1994-01-20) January 20, 1994
Wilmington, Delaware
Height:5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:208 lb (94 kg)
Career information
High school:Eastern Christian Academy
(Elkton, Maryland)
College:West Virginia
NFL Draft:2016 / Round: 5 / Pick: 153
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2019
Rushing yards:931
Yards per carry:4.0
Receptions:56
Receiving yards:452
Return yards:401
Rushing touchdowns:5
Receiving touchdowns:2
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Early years

Smallwood attended Red Lion Christian Academy in Bear, Delaware before transferring to Eastern Christian Academy in Elkton, Maryland for his senior year.[2][3] He was rated by Rivals.com as a three-star recruit. He received offers from West Virginia, Boston College, Connecticut, Hawaii, Rutgers, and Temple.[4] He chose to commit to West Virginia University (WVU) to play college football.[5]

College career

As a true freshman at West Virginia in 2013, Smallwood played in 12 games and rushed for 221 yards on 39 carries with one touchdown. He also served as a kick returner, returning 30 kickoffs for a total of 541 yards.[2][6] As a sophomore, he played in all 13 games and made nine starts. He had 722 rushing yards on 148 carries and two touchdowns.[7] He also recorded 31 receptions, fifth most in school history for a single season.[2][8] As a junior in 2015, Smallwood rushed for a Big 12-leading 1,519 yards on 238 carries with nine touchdowns.[9][10] With 2,462 rushing yards in his collegiate career, he finished ninth in school history.[11] After the season, he decided to forego his senior season and entered the 2016 NFL Draft.[12][13] While at West Virginia, he majored in criminology with a minor in communications.[2]

Career statistics
Wendell SmallwoodRushingReceivingFumbles
YearTeamGPGSCar.YardsAvgTDLongRec.YardsAvg.LongTDFumLost
2013WVU121392215.71381113212.030000
2014WVU1391487224.92353132610.550000
2015WVU13122381,5196.4952261606.215000
Career[2]38224252,4625.81252686189.150000

[14]

Professional career
Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand size 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
5 ft 10 1⁄2 in
(1.79 m)		 208 lb
(94 kg)		 30 1⁄2 in
(0.77 m)		 9 1⁄4 in
(0.23 m)		 4.47 s 1.57 s 2.63 s 4.28 s 6.83 s 33 1⁄2 in
(0.85 m)		 10 ft 0 in
(3.05 m)		 14 reps
All values from NFL Combine.[15][16]

Philadelphia Eagles
Smallwood (left) celebrates a touchdown with teammate Chris Maragos

Smallwood was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft with the 153rd overall pick.[17] He signed his rookie four-year contract on May 4, 2016.[18]

On September 25, 2016, Smallwood scored his first career rushing touchdown in a 34–3 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Due to an ankle injury limiting starter Ryan Mathews to only two carries, Smallwood was the featured back for the Eagles, recording 89 yards and the touchdown on 17 carries. In Week 6 against the Washington Redskins, he scored his first kickoff return touchdown and the NFL's first kickoff return touchdown of the season. He was placed on injured reserve on December 12, 2016, finishing his rookie season with 312 rushing yards and a touchdown.[19][20]

In the 2017 season, Smallwood finished with 174 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, 13 receptions, and 103 receiving yards.[21] During his second year in the NFL, the Eagles defeated the New England Patriots by a score of 41-33, giving them their first Super Bowl championship in franchise history.[22][23]

In the 2018 season, Smallwood continued to share a deep backfield. In Week 3, he scored his first rushing touchdown of the season against the Indianapolis Colts.[24] Overall, he finished the 2018 season with 364 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, 28 receptions, 230 receiving yards, and two receiving touchdowns.[25] The Eagles made the playoffs as the #6-seed. In the Wild Card Round against the Chicago Bears, he had 20 rushing yards and 20 receiving yards in the 16–15 victory.[26] In the Divisional Round against the New Orleans Saints, he had 33 rushing yards and a six-yard reception in the 20–14 loss.[27]

Smallwood was waived during final roster cuts on August 31, 2019.[28]

Washington Redskins
Smallwood alongside his teammates in a game against the New York Jets

On September 1, 2019, Smallwood was claimed off waivers by the Washington Redskins.[29] In the 2019 season, he appeared in 15 games and recorded 22 carries for 81 rushing yards to go along with nine receptions for 64 receiving yards.[30]

Career statistics
Year Team Games Rushing Receiving Kick return
GPGSAttYdsAvgLngTDRecYdsAvgLngTDAttYdsLngTD
2016PHI 131773124.11916559.2180926186T1
2017PHI 83471743.7261131037.9240493280
2018 PHI 16 6 87 364 4.2 15 3 28 230 8.2 36 2 2 33 17 0
Career[31]37122118404.0265473888.33621538786T1

Personal life

Smallwood is the son of Nichelle Barber and Wendell Smallwood. Growing up, he was a Philadelphia Eagles fan, his favorite player being Duce Staley, who became his position coach upon Smallwood being drafted by the Eagles.[2]

In July 2014, Smallwood was arrested in Delaware on charges of witness tampering.[32] Smallwood was accused of trying to get a witness to recant statements they made implicating a friend of Smallwood's, Zakee Lloyd, charged with first-degree murder.[33][34] Two weeks later, the charges against Smallwood were dropped when Lloyd pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.[35][36][37][38]

References
  1. Wells, Adam (July 15, 2014). "West Virginia RB Wendell Smallwood Accused of Witness Intimidation". BleacherReport.com. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  2. "Wendell Smallwood Eagles bio" (PDF). PhiladelphiaEagles.com. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  3. "Delaware native Wendell Smallwood: 'Football saved my life'". Delaware Online. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  4. "Wendell Smallwood Recruit Interests". 247sports.com. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  5. "Wendell Smallwood Running back". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  6. "Wendell Smallwood 2013 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  7. Chatmon, Brandon (July 28, 2015). "Versatile Wendell Smallwood could be a key to West Virginia's offense". Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  8. "Wendell Smallwood 2014 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  9. "2015 Big 12 Conference Leaders". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  10. "Wendell Smallwood 2015 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  11. "West Virginia Mountaineers Rushing". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  12. "West Virginia RB Wendell Smallwood declares for NFL draft". ESPN.com. January 7, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  13. Taylor, Allan (January 6, 2016). "Wendell Smallwood opts for NFL draft after all". WVMetroNews.com. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  14. "Wendell Smallwood College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  15. "Wendell Smallwood, DS #14 RB, West Virginia". NFLDraftScout.com. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  16. "Wendell Smallwood Draft Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  17. "2016 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  18. Sheridan, Phil (May 4, 2016). "Wendell Smallwood, four other draft picks sign with Eagles". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  19. McPherson, Chris (December 12, 2016). "Eagles Place Three On Injured Reserve". PhiladelphiaEagles.com.
  20. "Wendell Smallwood 2016 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  21. "Wendell Smallwood 2017 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  22. "Philadelphia Eagles win Super Bowl LII". NFL. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  23. "Super Bowl LII - Philadelphia Eagles vs. New England Patriots - February 4th, 2018". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  24. "Young Eagles running backs Corey Clement, Wendell Smallwood shine in win over Colts". Courier-Post. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  25. "Wendell Smallwood 2018 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  26. "Wild Card - Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears - January 6th, 2019". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  27. "Divisional Round - Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans Saints - January 13th, 2019". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  28. "Eagles announce roster moves as team gets to 53-player limit". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. August 31, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  29. Lee Gowton, Brandon. "Wendell Smallwood is staying in the NFC East". BleedingGreenNation.com. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  30. "Wendell Smallwood 2019 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  31. "Wendell Smallwood Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  32. "RB Wendell Smallwood arrested". ESPN.com. July 15, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  33. Brown, Robin (July 15, 2014). "West Virginia's Wendell Smallwood accused of witness intimidation". USAToday.com. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  34. Huguenin, Mike (July 15, 2014). "WVU's Wendell Smallwood faces charges of witness intimidation". NFL.com. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  35. Taylor, Allan (July 29, 2014). "Delaware charges dropped against WVU's Smallwood". WVMetroNews.com. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  36. O'Sullivan, Sean (July 29, 2014). "Witness intimidation charges against West Virginia RB Wendell Smallwood dropped after securing murder plea against gunman". USAToday.com. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  37. Radcliff, John (July 29, 2014). "Charges Against WVU Running Back Wendell Smallwood Dropped". SmokingMusket.com. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  38. Hinnen, Jerry (July 29, 2014). "Charges against West Virginia RB Wendell Smallwood dropped". CBSSports.com. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
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