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Tim McManus
PHILADELPHIA — A robust case could be made that Eagles star operating again Saquon Barkley will likely be extra energetic within the passing recreation in 2025 to counteract the eye he’ll obtain as a rusher.
Barkley is contemporary off a season for the ages during which he grew to become the ninth participant in NFL historical past to hurry for two,000 yards within the common season. He added 499 yards and 5 touchdowns within the postseason to maneuver into first place all time in single-season dashing yards, together with playoffs, and led Philadelphia to its second Tremendous Bowl title.
These numbers would have been gaudier if not for the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs‘ heavy concentrate on him in Tremendous Bowl LIX. The Eagles made it look simple with their 40-22 win, but it surely was a troublesome day for Barkley, who ran for 57 yards on 25 makes an attempt.
The Chiefs had seven or extra defenders within the field on 38 performs within the Tremendous Bowl, per ESPN Analysis, their second-most such performs in any recreation in 2024. And so they blitzed simply seven instances, probably partially to keep away from getting gashed by Barkley. The Chiefs recorded a run cease win fee of 36.1% — their second-best efficiency of the 12 months — and restricted Barkley to 2.3 yards per carry.
“The Chiefs did a extremely good job. Each time I am going again and watch that recreation or see clips of it, I used to be in hell, for certain,” Barkley stated. “However the great thing about taking part in for the Philadelphia Eagles is we’ve a variety of nice guys round us, so no matter groups need to do, it is form of choose your poison.”
Jalen Hurts gained Tremendous Bowl MVP together with his three-touchdown efficiency whereas demonstrating that the go recreation, armed with standout gamers reminiscent of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, can rise to the event when known as upon.
However Barkley proved to be the offensive engine, and the Eagles will need to hold him central to the plans. A method is to get him the ball by means of the air.
And Barkley has been fairly energetic as a receiver in coaching camp, lining up all around the formation and difficult defenders briefly and intermediate distances in addition to deep down the sector.
Barkley has pulled in some troublesome catches, together with a one-hander within the flat, and has been predictably troublesome to come up with as soon as in house. He almost secured an extended landing go from Hurts on a fly route, however rookie linebacker Smael Mondon Jr. knocked the ball unfastened on the final second.
“It is one thing that I am actually comfy with, one thing that I did particularly early on in my profession. And I’ve acquired to have the ability to adapt,” Barkley stated. “It is acquired to look totally different. What totally different appears to be like like, I do not know, however I’ve acquired to be efficient in some ways and that is in go professional, that is catching the ball, that is operating the ball, that is main. The one factor that issues is profitable soccer video games. ‘No matter I can do to assist,’ that is my mindset.”
Barkley had 91 catches for 721 yards in his rookie season in 2018, by far his profession highs in each classes. Final season, he completed with 33 grabs for 278 yards and a pair of scores, his fewest receptions aside from 2020 when he performed in simply two video games due to damage. There’s room for a bump in pass-game manufacturing, even with Brown, Smith and tight finish Dallas Goedert needing their touches.
Barkley will probably be joined within the backfield by AJ Dillon and Will Shipley, who additionally has some pass-catching abilities. The Eagles will likely be conscious of Barkley’s snap rely after logging a career-high 345 makes an attempt in 2024, but it surely does not sound like his taking part in time will likely be diminished dramatically.
“It is attention-grabbing. We have form of talked about that, he and I’ve,” offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo stated of Barkley’s workload. “It’s extremely game-specific. It is determined by how the movement of the sport goes and the way we’ll use it. He does a extremely good job of figuring out himself of when he wants to come back out, when he desires to return in. So, a variety of that will likely be on him, clearly throughout video games, and he is actually good about listening to that.”
