On the final day of 2024 training camp, Eagles coaches had some players square off in 1-on-1's against each other in front of the whole team to close practice. LB Ben VanSumeren lined up at receiver against rookie UDFA S Andre Sam, and he ran an absolutely filthy corner route, complete with head fakes at the route stem, and absolutely dusted Sam, causing both offensive and defensive players to go nuts. But... No. 2 quarterback Kenny Pickett overthrew him.
"I went to eat with Kenny and some of the guys later that night," VanSumeren said. "I couldn't even look at Kenny."
VanSumeren played receiver at Garber High School in Essexville, Michigan. In nine games during his senior season, according to maxpreps.com, VanSumeren caught 85 passes for 1259 yards (14.8 YPC) and 13 TDs. He also carried the ball 54 times for 387 yards (7.2 YPC) and 6 TDs. He originally enrolled at Michigan as a running back, but transferred to Michigan State, where his focus became on the defensive side of the ball.
"They wanted to give me a look at running some routes," VanSumeren said of his revelatory moment in training camp. "So I ran one. I had a nice little swim off the release, gave him a little head move from the outside, little push off, and then back out to the corner. So, you know, it just felt like it did in high school, I guess."
VanSumeren was an undrafted rookie free agent last season who did not make the initial 53-man roster, and who was thought of as more of an athlete than a football player in some scouting reports. His athleticism was indeed appealing, as he ran a 4.45 40 and vertical jumped 42.5" at 231 pounds.
Credit: Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) on Twitter/X
VanSumeren eventually worked his way onto the 53-man roster during the 2023 season and found a role as a regular on special teams, where his athleticism was often praised by special teams coordinator Michael Clay. But he also proved to be more than just an athlete, as he was one of the most physical defenders in camp this summer, and also one of the most improved players. He was a no-brainer choice to make the 53-man roster at the end of camp.
On Sunday against the Giants, VanSumeren got a chance to play on the offensive side of the ball, and he was effective as a fullback, as he had two really nice blocks on consecutive runs for 41 and 14 yards.
- He found a hole for Barkley, blocked Bobby Okereke (58), then sprinted downfield looking for more work.
- He had a nice counter block on Azeez Ojulari (51), freeing up Gainwell for 14 yards.
"It's definitely in my instincts," VanSumeren said about playing offense. "I've been wired to do that for some time. It's in my blood. Ever since I've been getting practice reps there, I don't feel like there's really a learning curve or anything like that."
As you can see in the above clips, VanSumeren was fired up after each play.
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"Two-back offenses, sometimes there's value to it at various times," Kellen Moore said on Tuesday. "We just felt like there was an opportunity to utilize it in this game. Ben is a guy, going back to high school days, he's been a ball carrier. And so he's played on the offensive side before.
"So sometimes it starts as more of a fun experimental aspect and it then it might become serious over the course of training camp and the season. We'll see where it plays out. Every week you're trying to find out what gives us best opportunity to be successful and felt like that gave us an opportunity this past week and he did an excellent job. His effort in the run game, he had the juice and energy going, and I think it was a real benefit to us."
Moore expressed that the coaching staff discovered that VanSumeren could maybe play on offense when he served in something of a scout team role during practice.
"Sometimes as you go through training camp, sometimes guys on offense have to help the defense and defensive guys have to help the offense just to show different looks and line ups and presentations," Moore said. "Him just kind of unintentionally lining up on offense to aid the defense gives us the look of, hey, this guy has got some athleticism, and obviously it kind of just kept building as we went. So we'll see where it takes us."
It'll be interesting to see if VanSumeren's offensive role continues to grow, and if he also becomes a part of the passing game. Given the success of the plays he was involved in on Sunday, VanSumeren is sure to get more opportunities, and it's not like they're going to exclusively call run plays when he is in the game.
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