Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley will have a lot to prove during the 2024 season. As a former second-overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, he did not live up to expectations. Barkley returns to the state of Pennsylvania after playing college football at Penn State with the Nittany Lions before coming into the NFL.
There were a lot of New York Giants fans who were not happy with Barkley leaving for the Eagles this offseason in free agency. Had he left for a team like the Baltimore Ravens, for example, New York Giants fans would not have been as salty about him leaving.
The mandatory mini-camp is over for the Philadelphia Eagles and a bunch of other NFL teams. NFL training camp will be next month and there will be several storylines entering training camp.
CBS Sports Chris Trapasso Thinks That Philadelphia Eagles Running Back Saquon Barkley Is In For a Resurgence This Season
Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports thinks that Saquon Barkley had a down year last season with the New York Giants and thinks that he will bounce back for the Eagles this season. Barkley did rush for 962 yards on 247 carries and six touchdowns last season and averaged 3.7 yards per carry.
He also caught 41 passes for 280 yards receiving and four touchdowns, along with averaging 6.8 yards per reception. It is not like Saquon Barkley had a bad year last season for the New York Giants. He did almost rush for 1,000 yards and also had some touchdowns receiving out of the backfield.
Trapasso said about the Philadelphia Eagles’ starting running back having a resurgence this season by writing:
“Barkley nearly reached 1,000 yards last season — which has become a real milestone in today’s NFL — but it came without much efficiency. His 3.9 yards-per-carry average was the second-lowest for a full season the uber-talented runner has accomplished. Heck, in 2021, Barkley averaged a mere 3.7 yards per. And today, that low of a YPC average will absolutely deter any club from running the football.
But, fortunately for Barkley, bouncing from New York to Philadelphia inside the NFC East means he goes from one of the worst, more porous offensive lines with essentially no continuity to one of the finest blocking collectives in football. Sure, no Jason Kelce will probably lead to some growing pains inside to begin the season, but the Eagles prudently prepared for the post-Kelce era — Cam Jurgens should be able to do many of the same things Kelce did on the move from the center position.
Last year, D’Andre Swift averaged 4.6 yards per and all of the Eagles reserve runners were over 4.2 yards per. And, vitally, Barkley isn’t technically “old” by NFL running back standards in that he still hasn’t hit the dreaded age-28 season yet. Philadelphia is going to want to run it with Barkley and Jalen Hurts. Often. I expect well over 1,000 yards for Saquon at well north of 4.0 yards per tote in 2024. “
On paper, it feels like Jalen Hurts and Barkley will be a better tandem than Hurts and D’Andre Swift. There is not much depth at the running back position behind Barkley at the moment for the Philadelphia Eagles. It will be important for Saquon Barkley to stay healthy this season because it could be a dangerous offense.