Saquon Barkley has always made the impossible look possible. What’s truly impossible is to think that week in and week out he continues to embarrass his opponents whose number one goal every week is simply to prevent him from embarrassing them.
In his first season in a Philadelphia Eagles uniform, running behind an elite offensive line with weapons abound that would make the folks at Norad a little nervous, Barkley is an MVP finalist for the first time in his career among the likes of Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson and Jared Goff (see rarefied air). After becoming only the ninth man in NFL history to rush for over 2000 yards in a season (2,005), he’s now preparing for his first NFC Championship Game appearance, just one win away from playing in his first Super Bowl.
The Ultimate Weapon 2.0?
I’ve covered the Eagles in some form and various mediums since the early 90’s and hands down the greatest Eagle I’ve ever seen don the green uniform was Randall Cunningham. Randall was truly the ultimate weapon and anyone who tells you that Donovan McNabb was the best quarterback in franchise history needs to turn in their fan card immediately, if not sooner. But if someone came up to me and wanted to make an argument that Saquon Barkley is at least The Ultimate Weapon 2.0, there’s a good chance they could sell me on that. It really wouldn’t be that hard of a sell as I’m sure anyone with two eyes would agree. (I suppose a cyclops would come to the same conclusion , not to discriminate against the single ocular community).
In his first two playoff games wearing green, Barkley has rushed for 324 yards on 51 carries. He hit two bombs against the Rams for 62 and 78 yards and would have had a 76 yard TD burst against the Packers if he hadn’t given himself up to end the game. The Birds’ version of Superman has had almost as much success in his two games facing the Commanders this year logging 55 carries for 296 yards and four touchdowns. In the week 16 game at Washington, Barkley had rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown with two minutes still left in the first quarter. Sunday he gets another crack at the 30th ranked rushing defense in the league. Good luck with that.
As much as the 27 year old from Allentown, PA. appears to be the missing piece to an Eagles roster that was already under construction to make a serious run at Lord Lombardi this year, the Eagles also appear to be the missing piece to a legacy that’s been waiting to be defined.
It’s this simple. Saquon Barkley has dominated at every level. From his first carry at Whitehall-Coplay High in a district playoff game when he made a 70 yard house call through his three years at Penn State where he amazed onlookers by amassing 3,843 yards and 43 touchdowns, while averaging 5.7 yards per carry while hauling in 102 balls for 1,195 yards and eight touchdowns. I don’t think it’s hard to see why the New York Giants selected him with the second pick in the 2018 draft when they, at the time, still had Eli Manning at the quarterback helm and a receiver by the name of Odell Beckham Jr. as the third member of a possible “triplets” triumvirate.
But when the Giants decided not meet his number after six seasons, the former Nittany Lion star took his talents about 90 miles south as Philly offered not just a new team, but a new start to realize his full potential inside an infrastructure built for success.
Creating a Monster
His offensive coordinator while at Penn State, Joe Moorehead, is quite impressed at the job Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore have done with Barkley, as he told Matt Lombardo from Between the Hashmarks this past Wednesday.
“The cool thing for me as I watch it is a lot of the concepts that we were running [with Saquon at Penn State] in 2016 and 2017, are the things that Nick Sirianni and Kellen Moore are utilizing now to get him out in space and create one-on-one opportunities for him…Aside from what he’s doing personally, and what the Eagles are doing as a team, I’m like ‘alright, this staff really knows how to utilize his skill-set.”
Unlike his time in New York, Saquon is now playing for a coaching staff that understands how to maximize his unparalleled ability to be one of the great game changers the NFL has ever seen, elevating a roster already rife with elite talent and just enough humility to make their second run at the Super Bowl in the last three years. That’s why Birds’ General Manager Howie Roseman couldn’t get his prize piece to put ink to paper on a three-year deal worth $37.5 million when free agency began last March fast enough.
“It’s hard to find difference-making players and people…” Roseman said, during an appearance on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio shortly after the Eagles signed Barkley last off-season. “There’s risk in every decision you make, but we don’t think there’s any risk on the talent…I don’t think there’s anyone when he came out of the draft that didn’t think he wasn’t a Hall of Fame-caliber talent and person. He’s still young, and we’re really excited to have him.”
So is everybody else that drinks from the trough of the green Kool-Aid around here.
