PHILADELPHIA -- When Philadelphia Eagles vice president of football operations Howie Roseman was asked about the strengths of the 2017 NFL draft class at this year's scouting combine, he started with the running backs.

"Certainly when you look at the running back position, we think it's a possible historic class [in respect to] how many guys and where they would have gone in previous drafts," he said.

Early returns suggest Roseman might have been on to something. Week 1 showcased a youth movement at running back featuring big outings from several rookies, including Dalvin Cook of the Minnesota Vikings (127 rushing yards), Leonard Fournette of the Jacksonville Jaguars (26 carries, 100 yards, 1 TD), Carolina Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey (92 all-purpose yards) and Tarik Cohen of the Chicago Bears (158 total yards, 1 TD). Others, such as Chris Carson of the Seattle Seahawks (6.5-yard average on six carries) have been showing promise in their own right.

The top performance of the week belongs to Kareem Hunt, who racked up 246 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns for the Kansas City Chiefs in a 42-27 win over the defending-champion New England Patriots. Coach Doug Pederson said recently Hunt was one of the backs the Eagles looked at during the pre-draft process.

"I liked him. I did," he said. "I thought he had a good career there in college. [He was] one of the guys that was definitely someone that we had our eye on."

They'll get an up-close look at Hunt this week, as the Eagles play at Kansas City on Sunday.

The Toledo product was selected by the Chiefs in the third round, 86th overall. The Eagles originally held the 74th overall slot but traded it to the Baltimore Ravens for starting defensive tackle Tim Jernigan.

They also had heavy interest in Cook and were considering trading up from No. 43 overall in the second round to get him but balked at the price of a fourth-round pick. The Vikings met the Cincinnati Bengals' demands and snagged Cook two spots before the Eagles, who ended up selecting cornerback Sidney Jones with their second-round pick and wide receiver Mack Hollins with the fourth-rounder that they held on to. It will be a while until we know whether that was a wise decision.

Roseman & Co. later traded up in the fourth to select Donnel Pumphrey, the undersized (5-foot-9, 176 pounds) but prolific running back out of San Diego State. Pumphrey struggled in the preseason and was on the roster bubble approaching cut-downs. Ultimately, the front office decided not to give up on their investment so soon and kept him on the 53-man roster along with four other backs -- LeGarrette Blount, Darren Sproles, Wendell Smallwood and undrafted rookie Corey Clement. Pumphrey was the lone inactive back in Week 1.

The Eagles were unable to establish the run in an opening-day win over the Washington Redskins, finishing with 58 yards on 24 carries (2.4 YPC). Quarterback Carson Wentz, meanwhile, threw the ball 39 times.

Wentz set a franchise record with 607 pass attempts as a rookie in part because of an inconsistent ground game. The plan this offseason was to beef up the backfield talent so the Eagles could have more balance and take some of the heat off their young signal-caller. It's questionable whether that was accomplished.

It's early, and still possible Pumphrey develops over the coming weeks and months or Smallwood takes off or Blount rounds into form and looks like the guy that led the league last year with 18 touchdowns for the Patriots. But the early signs aren't great, and it's worth wondering whether the Eagles will look back with regret at a running back class they knew could be special.