There’s been plenty conversations about the shelf life of running backs in the NFL. What is the age where they go from being the shiny new Ferrari on draft day to the used car off the lot? Typically, the age 30 season seems to be where an extreme drop off in production begins, or even sooner for injury plagued backs. Running backs do rack up a lot of mileage and a lot of wear and tear during the course of a season, creating a recent trend where star running backs are not valued as much as years past.
This offseason, the Eagles went against the grain and signed Saquon Barkley away from the rival New York Giants, inking the 27-year-old to a three-year, $37.75 million contract with $26 million guaranteed while his $15.833 million per year salary makes him the second-highest paid running back in NFL history.
So far, Barkley has delivered on his end of the deal in the early going while Giants’ co-owner, president and CEO John Mara has probably lost some sleep to start the season.
Leading the Way for the Eagles
Barkley has been incredible through the first three weeks of the season. He currently leads the NFL with 351 yards on the ground and yards per game, averaging 117 yards per contest while tied for first with four rushing touchdowns. He has surpassed the 100-yard mark in two of the team’s first three games, putting together his best performance as an Eagle in the 15-12 win on Sunday against New Orleans where he ran for 147 yards on a season-low 17 carries.
Those 147 yards in a game were the most in quite some time for a Philadelphia back. His performance was highlighted by this 65-yard touchdown to give the Eagles their first lead of the game early in the fourth quarter.
Then his game-winning touchdown late in regulation before converting the two-point conversion to make it a three-point game.
Barkley, who has missed time in four of his six seasons in the NFL, seems to have come into this season in excellent shape and still has his lethal combination of speed and power.
The pair of touchdowns marked the second time this season he’s found paydirt multiple times in a game, already halfway to his season total of multi-touchdown games he had last year in his final year with the Giants.
In Saquon We Trust
Despite not being involved early in the win against the Saints, Barkley took over in the second half providing a spark for the offense and turning in one of the top performances by a running back in the young season. Barkley’s start is also something we haven’t seen too often over the last two decades.
Over the first three games, Barkley has racked up 132, 116, and 158 total yards in each game while scoring five total touchdowns.
The former Whitehall High School and Penn State star is going to be integral for the Eagles’ offense for at least one more week before their bye as they await star wide receiver A.J. Brown’s return from a hamstring injury while also hoping DeVonta Smith only misses a game due to this controversial play where he suffered a concussion.
There are many factors that can result in the success for a running back. Health, durability, vision, offensive line and play-calling are all included in the formula for a successful running attack. For Barkley, this is the best situation he’s been in his career and so far, it’s been paying dividends.
The days of appreciating the likes of Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, LaDainian Tomlinson and other star running backs may be behind us in terms of how the league values the position. However, the Eagles and their fans should be very appreciative of what Barkley has brought to the table to commence his Eagles’ career.
Mandatory Photo Credit: REUTERS/Carla Carniel
