The Philadelphia Eagles were thrilled when they upgraded from D'Andre Swift to Saquon Barkley at running back this offseason. Barkley left the New York Giants to join their division rival on a lucrative three-year $37.75 million contract. He will have a chance at a career year behind one of the best offensive lines in all of football. NFL personnel agree that Barkley is in for a strong 2024 campaign.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler recently polled NFL executives, coaches, and scouts to come up with a ranking of the league's top running backs. The list focuses exclusively on the 2024 NFL season. Eagles RB Saquon Barkley ranks fourth on this list, trailing behind Christian McCaffrey, Breece Hall, and Nick Chubb.
Barkley has already shown that he's a talented NFL running back, and he's done it behind a patchwork Giants' offensive line.
There is a lot of optimism that Barkley will have a great season now that he is on a talented offense.
“He's going to be a beast,” a veteran AFC scout who ranked him second said. “The weapons around him on the outside, dual-threat QB, shotgun runs, his versatility — it's a perfect fit.”
One factor that prevented Barkley from being rated higher is his age. The 27-year-old still has some good years left in him, but he is on his way out of his prime.
“Probably not as fast as he used to be,” an NFL offensive coach said. “He has the ability to make people miss in space, which is sometimes bad since you think you can bounce it and outrun people. But when he does get downhill, running in between tackles, he's so strong naturally that he's hard to tackle. He runs through arm tackles. Just has to decide to do it.”
Eagles' offensive lineman Lane Johnson issues bold prediction on Saquon Barkley's 2024 season
The Eagles will be on a bit of a revenge tour in 2024. They started off hot winning 10 of their first 11 games. Unfortunately, they crumbled down the stretch and got blasted out of the playoffs by a middling Buccaneers team.
Adding Barkley is a big bet Philadelphia's offense is one player away from becoming a monster. Lane Johnson certainly thinks so.
Johnson recently appeared on NFL Network's The Insiders and spoke glowingly about his new teammate Barkley.
“Once you see him, you'll never forget, just physically imposing guy,” Johnson said of Barkley, per NFL.com's Bobboy Kownack. “I think he walks around 230 (pounds). … He's ultra competitive. When you see what he can do at the running back position and we can flex him out at receiver, he can go. It's unbelievable. I never thought that he would be playing for us, but here it is. I know that he's excited. We're definitely excited up front. I think he's poised for a big, big year.”
Barkley is not the only new face on the Eagles roster, but he is certainly the biggest. It is good to hear that Lane Johnson is confident in Barkley.
Johnson also spoke generally about Philadelphia's revamped roster compared to the 2023 squad.
“We have a lot of new faces, a lot of turnover,” Johnson said. “But [I] felt comfortable with the way we drafted. Got some great players. And really when you look at our roster, we have a lot of size. Obviously we have to go prove things and are eager to do so. But when you just look at the guys walking around the building, we've got size, we've got speed, and guys willing to work.”
