Saquon Barkley Remains in the Perfect Situation With the Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles pushed their chips into the center of the table heading into last season in their quest to win a Super Bowl. Their addition of Saquon Barkley proved to be pivotal as he helped them win the title. As they look to repeat in 2025, Barkley will once again be front and center within their offense.

Click here for more 2025 Player Profiles!

DraftKings is giving ALL customers a can't-miss offer for Best Ball: Draft One, Get One! Enter a lineup in the $15 Million Best Ball Contest for just $20, and you'll score another Best Ball ticket to play FREE for a share of $15 million—giving you a second shot to win big!

Dominant 2024 Campaign

Barkley produced some gaudy stats with the Giants, including during his rookie season when he finished with 2,028 total yards and 15 touchdowns. However, he had some injury issues while with the Giants, including playing just two games in 2020 because of a torn ACL.

The biggest issue facing Barkley during the end of his tenure with the Giants was their poor offensive line. In 2023, he received 247 carries over 14 games. However, he finished with just 962 rushing yards and six touchdowns.

Barkley went from one of the worst offensive lines in the league to one of the best when he joined the Eagles. In 2023, Barkley averaged 1.9 rushing yards before contact per rushing attempt. Behind the Eagles offensive line last season, that number increased to 3.8. Not only was that the highest mark among running backs in the NFL, but Barkley was one of only three total running backs to average at least 3.0 rushing yards before contact per rushing attempt. The other two were Jahmyr Gibbs (3.3) and Derrick Henry (3.1)

Barkley also led the league with 345 rushing attempts, which helped him finish with 2,005 rushing yards. He even set a new career high with 13 rushing touchdowns. The Eagles had a stellar offense, which resulted in Barkley receiving 61 carries inside the red zone, 17 of which came from inside the five-yard line. With the Giants the season prior, Barkley had 41 carries inside the red zone, eight of which came from inside the five-yard line.

As good as Barkley’s touchdown production was, it could have been better if not for the rushing prowess of Eagles QB Jalen Hurts. Hurts received 19 carries inside the five-yard line and finished with 14 rushing touchdowns. It marked his fourth straight season with at least 10 rushing touchdowns. The Eagles used the “Tush Push” to perfection, which ended up creating fewer touchdown opportunities for Barkley.

Similar Situation in 2025

With the Eagles winning the Super Bowl, they didn’t exactly need to make any drastic changes on offense. Hurts remains under center, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith will lead the team at wide receiver again, and Dallas Goedert is still their top tight end. Will Shipley and A.J. Dillon will serve as Barkley’s top backups, but neither should receive much work. The Eagles also remain loaded on their offensive line, which should create plenty of open running lanes for Barkley.

One change to the Eagles’ offense comes on the coaching side of things with Kevin Patullo taking over for Kellen Moore as the offensive coordinator. Moore is now the head coach of the New Orleans Saints, and the Eagles decided to replace him from within, promoting Patullo. Patullo was the team’s passing coordinator since 2021 and had the title of associate head coach added in 2023. Given that Patullo has been on the coaching staff for so long, expect the team to deploy a similar offensive strategy this season.

Opportunity to be Overall RB1 Again

Coming off a stellar season, Barkley is understandably one of the top players being selected in fantasy drafts. According to 4for4’s Multi-Site ADP, Barkley has an ADP of 3 behind Ja'Marr Chase and Bijan Robinson. In 12-team leagues, other running backs besides Barkley and Robinson who have ADPs in the first round are Jahmyr Gibbs (ADP 4, RB3), Christian McCaffrey (ADP 7, RB4), and Ashton Jeanty (ADP 11, RB5).

Barkley couldn’t be in a much better position than he is with the Eagles. He has a great quarterback and plenty of pass-catching options around him that make it so the opposing defense can’t focus solely on slowing him down. A good example of that is that Barkley only had 20.58% of his carries come with 8+ defenders in the box last season, according to Next Gen Stats. For comparison, Derrick Henry had 8+ defenders in the box for 33.23% of his carries.

Barkley still has a great offensive line in front of him, which also helps his chances for another spectacular season. While he has been in the league since 2018, Barkley still has stellar speed. According to Next Gen Stats, Barkley had four of the top 14 maximum speeds (MPH) among ball carries last year.

The only real question mark with Barkley is if he can stay healthy after his hefty workload last season. Not only did he have 345 carries during the regular season, but he had another 91 carries in the playoffs. Even with that in mind, there are so many factors working in Barkley’s favor for fantasy football.

Why Saquon Barkley Wins at ADP

I’m comfortable with taking Barkley as the first running back off the board in drafts and also don’t have a problem with anyone who wants to take him first overall ahead of Chase. The reason to take him over Robinson as the RB1 is that the Eagles' offense has a much higher floor than the Falcons' offense. The Falcons don’t have a terrible offensive line, but the Eagles have arguably the best offensive line in the NFL. The Eagles also have a proven commodity at quarterback in Hurts, while Michael Penix Jr. will begin his first full season as a starter for the Falcons. If he struggles, Robinson could receive fewer opportunities for touchdowns than Barkley. Teams could also focus on slowing down Robinson and the running game if Penix struggles through the air.

The Bottom Line

• Saquon Barkley is coming off a career season in which he turned 345 carries into 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns.
• The Eagles’ offensive line provided a big boost for Barkley last season and remains one of the best units in football heading into 2025.
• The Eagles have a new offensive coordinator in Patullo, but he has been a part of their offensive staff since 2021, so expect the team to run a similar offensive scheme as last season.
• According to 4for4’s Multi-Site ADP, Barkley has an ADP of 3 behind Chase and Robinson.
• While Barkley has generally been selected after Robinson, the combination of his elite offensive line and favorable offensive system makes him my RB1.