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Eagles' 12 most intriguing players No. 3: The wrong Saquon Barkley question for 2025
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- Eagles' 12 most intriguing players No. 3: The wrong Saquon Barkley question for 2025
PHILADELPHIA − You will hear often, if you haven't already, about a realistic expectation for Eagles running back Saquon Barkley for the 2025 season.
Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards last season, becoming just the ninth player in NFL history to do so, and the Eagles won the Super Bowl. Including playoffs, Barkley had 2,504 yards, setting an unofficial NFL record for rushing yards in an entire season.
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And yet, nearly every question that Barkley has faced going into this season is can he do it again?
After all, no running back in NFL history has ever rushed for 2,000 or more yards twice in a season. And Barkley is 28 years old, considered on the older side for a running back, and coming off a season that lasted into the middle of February.
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Barkley ended up surpassing his previous high for touches in a season by more than 100, finishing with 482.
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But doing it again, replete with the backward hurdle, is the wrong question.
That's why Barkley is No. 3 on our list of 12 most intriguing Eagles heading into the start of training camp on July 22. We're counting them down each weekday from No. 12 to No. 1. The series began July 7 and will culminate with the start of camp.
For the record, Barkley was asked if surpassing 2,000 yards rushing is a goal of his for this season.
"Yeah, I think that would be pretty cool," Barkley said. "But I didn't go into last year with the mindset of rushing for 2,000 yards. It's kind of just happened."
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And Barkley certainly isn't going into this season with that mindset either, even though he has said he wants to be known as the best running back to ever play the game.
For one, the Eagles' opponents might not let him duplicate his 2024 season.
Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles reacts after rushing for a touchdown against the Washington Commanders during the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on Nov. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia.
No doubt, every defensive coordinator is looking at how the Kansas City Chiefs held Barkley to 57 yards on 25 carries in the Super Bowl. It was the second-lowest total of yards in Barkley's 20 games last season. And at 2.3 yards per carry, it was his lowest average in a game for the season.
Of course, the Eagles had answers with Jalen Hurts completing 17 of 22 passes for 221 yards as the Eagles took a 34-0 lead in the third quarter and cruised to a 40-22 win. And with the Chiefs focusing on Barkley, Hurts gained 72 yards on 11 carries.
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Secondly, those answers are there again this year.
The Eagles return 10 of 11 starters on offense, including all of their skill position players in Hurts, Barkley, wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith , and tight end Dallas Goedert . They also return four of five starters from a dominant offensive line.
Load up to stop Barkley, and Brown and Smith will burn 1-on-1 coverages, or Hurts will keep the ball and rush into open spaces.
So the right question is whether the Eagles need Barkley to get 2,000 yards again. Oh sure, the Eagles need Barkley to be dynamic, able to break through a hole and run for 40-plus yards. He did this nine times last season, including playoffs.
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This is unchartered territory for Barkley and the Eagles, both in adjusting to defenses adjustments, and making sure Barkley is rested and healthy for another season that can extend into February.
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"You just gotta be smarter," Barkley said. "You have your moments where you go in there, you grind, and you push it ... But the majority of those days is mobility, conditioning, doing all of the things to get your body in shape to perform at a high level."
And then Barkley added this: "It was a (big) workload (in 2024), but my body feels great. So that's the most important thing. The way (head coach) Nick (Sirianni) and everyone here has handled it has been really helpful for me.
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"I feel like I'm entering my prime, so I just gotta have the mindset of listening to everyone, buying in to what they want me to do. And whatever I do, try to do it to the best of my ability."
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Read his coverage of the Eagles' championship season in "Flying High," a new hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Saquon Barkley: Philadelphia Eagles' most intriguing players in 2025
