History Says Eagles' Saquon Barkley Might Never be as Good as 2024

I don't want to say Saquon Barkley's season a year ago was disappointing or terrible, but it certainly wasn't ideal. For a player who many consider one of the best in the NFL, Barkley playing at that level was a bit surprising. 

Ultimately, however, he'll need to turn some things around if he wants to be viewed as the same player that he once was. 

It's tough to say that he'll bounce back as well as some are hoping for, given he's getting up there in age for a running back and has had some tough injuries, but I have full trust in him eventually doing so.

The problem for Barkley is that things are going to continue to look much different than they typically do. With another new offensive coordinator, one that wants to throw the football at a high level, there's a very good chance that Barkley won't be as involved in the offense as some expect him to be. 

I still fully expect him to get a decent workload, but his touches might be down.

That's part of the reason why it's fair to wonder what an impressive season would look like for Barkley next year.

“So Barkley wants a major bounce back. That's hardly a shocker, but what can that actually look like? Because he's coming back to a new style of offense led by Sean Mannion, which is expected to be more pass-heavy with a priority on spreading the ball around more evenly, and in all seriousness, it's probably not realistic to expect another 2,000-yard and reverse hurdle type of season – those kind of years are once in a lifetime.

“But at this stage of his career, Barkley should still have plenty left in the tank to continue to be impactful. History sets precedent for that,” Nick Tricome wrote.

I don't think we should expect the 2,000-yard season from Barkley like we did two seasons ago when he nearly did just that. 

However, there are other ways to be effective, at least at the same level that he once was, even if it isn't putting up a ton of yards.