There are just two major schools of thought when it comes to the fantasy football outlook of Saquon Barkley in the 2025 NFL season: one that says he’ll go off again and another that believes that the Philadelphia Eagles superstar running back is going to underwhelm.
For Jim Ayello of The Athletic, there is enough evidence to think that the 2025 NFL season will not be as green for Barkley and his fantasy football owners as it was in the last campaign.
Ayello is not concerned about Barkley’s talent. The former Penn State Nittany Lions star tailback is still one of the best in the business, and that should continue to be the case in 2025.
But the fact that Barkley, who’s gracing the cover of Madden 26, had over 400 touches in total, including the playoffs in the 2024 season, seems to worry Ayello about the 2024 NFL Offensive Player of the Year winner’s chances to produce first-round value in fantasy football in the coming season.
Ayello even said that the three-time Bowler “Barkley shouldn’t be a first-round pick in any fantasy football league next season.”
History says that Saquon Barkley will not have a better fantasy finish in 2025 than 2024
In a table presented by Ayello, he laid out 12 running backs who had at least 400 rushing attempts in a season (regular season + postseason), and outside of Barkley, each one of them had a big dropoff in terms of carries and fantasy football finish in the position.
Among the running backs mentioned was DeMarco Murray, who had 436 carries in 2014 and finished RB2, but only had 193 carries in 2015 and ranked RB15 at the end. Another notable name was Eddie George, who had 431 carries and went RB3 in 2000 before getting only 315 carries and posting an RB21 finish in 2001.
Still, the door is not closed on Barkley defying expectations and having yet another monster year for his fantasy football owners in 2025.
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