Except for a few twists and turns, Leddie Brown has followed in Wendell Smallwood’s footsteps, albeit six years apart.
Both running backs played at Eastern Christian Academy in Elkton, Maryland, although Smallwood spent his first three seasons at Red Lion Christian Academy.
Both then attended West Virginia, where each rushed for at least 1,000 yards in a season – Smallwood in 2015 and Brown in 2020 and 2021.
Now, Brown is following Smallwood once more at the NFL Combine next week in Indianapolis, and presumably to getting drafted by an NFL team from April 28-30.
Brown is projected by many draft analysts to be picked in a mid to late round, just like Smallwood was six years ago. Smallwood was drafted by the Eagles in the fifth round of the 2016 draft.
He rushed for 850 yards in three seasons in Philadelphia before continuing his career with Pittsburgh. Smallwood finished up last season with Washington.
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It’s quite possible that the Eagles could be interested in Brown, who’s listed at 5-foot-11, 216 pounds, especially in a later round.
The Eagles have a lead back in Miles Sanders, who had 740 yards rushing in 12 games, the second straight season in which he missed at least four games with injuries.
This will be the last year of Sanders’ rookie contract, and the Eagles, like most teams, are reluctant to pay top dollar for a running back. So unless Sanders signs a team-friendly deal, it’s possible that he will at least test free agency a year from now.
In addition, both Jordan Howard and Boston Scott, who combined for 779 yards last season, are eligible for free agency.
That leaves Kenny Gainwell, the Eagles’ fifth-round pick last spring, as the only running back under contract beyond 2022.
That’s why the Eagles will likely draft a running back with one of their 10 picks, especially if they don’t bring back Howard and/or Scott.
Brown did diverge from Smallwood’s path in spots, mostly by necessity. That began in high school when Eastern Christian folded.
Brown transferred to Smyrna for his junior year. The Eagles went 12-0 that season and won the 2016 DIAA Division I championship.
Brown rushed 93 times for 730 yards that year, averaging 7.8 yards per carry and 14 touchdowns. He shared the backfield with Will Knight, whose 6,490 career rushing yards are a Delaware high school record.
Brown then moved to Philadelphia for his senior year and attended Neumann-Goretti where he rushed for 410 yards, averaging 7.9 yards per carry.
Brown then followed fellow Red Lion and ECA stars like Smallwood, wide receiver Daikiel Shorts and quarterback-turned-wide receiver David Sills V to West Virginia. Sills just completed his third season with the New York Giants.
Brown became the seventh WVU running back to have two seasons with at least 1,000 yards rushing. He had 1,010 yards as a junior in 2020 and 1,065 yards this past season.
Brown ranks sixth on West Virginia’s all-time rushing list with 2,880 yards in four seasons. Smallwood had 2,462 yards in three seasons, including a Big 12-leading 1,519 in 2015.
Brown opted out of West Virginia’s bowl game before playing recently in the East-West Shrine Bowl. Brown had 4 carries for 16 yards, including a 12-yard run, in the East’s 25-24 loss to the West.
In his last game for West Virigina, last Nov. 27, Brown had 156 yards rushing on 19 carries in the Mountaineers’ 34-28 win over Kansas.
His next carry will likely come next fall in the NFL.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
