The Philadelphia Eagles’ problems have been documented and discussed for a long time now. Offensive line depth, the performance of Sam Bradford and the freshly-reconstructed secondary have been held up as things Chip Kelly needs to focus on the most as the season inches closer. The Eagles do have another problem though, a pretty serious one that hasn’t been talked about a lot. In a way it’s a good problem to have, but it’s still a problem.

That problem is with Darren Sproles, and how the Eagles are going to get him on the field. His capabilities have been a big boost to the Eagles’ offense and special teams, and have been relied on heavily. Last year, there was only one running back ahead of Sproles he had to vie for touches from, so it was easy for Sproles to carve out his role. The role was clear and it got Sproles on the field to make the big play when it was needed.

But the overhaul of the Eagles’ offense has muddied the waters some for Sproles. Instead of having only one back to work around for touches, Sproles now has to deal with two pretty good ones in DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews. Both are getting enough money such that they had better get the ball a good amount, and that eats into Sproles’ workload some. Unless Kelly is going to give his running backs 50 touches a game, you have to figure that Sproles’ role is up in the air again looking to be defined.

What makes this even more difficult and pressing is that Sproles is too good, too dynamic to just limit him to punt and kick returns.

I’m really hoping Kelly is going back to his wildly creative formations again this year, and he’s got something up his sleeve such that all three are on the field at once. The Eagles have a surplus of running back talent at their disposal, and figuring out how to tap into all of it is going to be a huge challenge Kelly has to handle. Sproles can be deadly with the ball in his hands, and he can make what looks like an already lethal Eagles offense that much scarier.

Doug Green is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com covering the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL.  Follow him on Twitter @DGreenNFL.