The Eagles offense is struggling this season but it's not for a lack of Saquon Barkley in the recipe.
A year after leading the NFL with 378 touches, and rushing for 2,005 yards, Philly is still handing him the rock, week in and week out, for better or for worse.
Behind an oft-injured offensive line and going up against defenses that are making it clear they'd prefer Jalen Hurts to beat them — not the reigning offensive player of the year — Barkley is not producing like he did in 2024, even though he's had ample opportunity to.
Through 10 games, Barkley has had 203 total touches, fifth-most in the NFL. They haven't been particularly effective touches. In 2024 through 10 games, Barkley had 1,682 scrimmage yards on 250 touches. In 2025 he has 869 yards, just around half as many. His yards-per-touch average in 2024 was 6.7 and this season it's a totally mundane 4.3.
He's been on the field more, if you can believe it, with a snap rate of 78.3 % in 2025, despite the Eagles having upgraded to Tank Bigsby behind him. Last year through 10 games he had seen 72.6% of snaps and in total he had 73.6% over the 16 games he played.
Is it the wear and tear that is making him less productive?
Over the past decade, just six regular season running backs have touched the football more than Barkley did in 2024 (Josh Jacobs, Derek Henry twice, Najee Harris, Ezekiel Elliot and Christian McCaffrey) and none of them made the run to the Super Bowl Barkley did last winter.
Barkley's 482 total touches last year including the playoffs was the 10th-most for any running back ever. The only other RB in the top 10 from the last quarter century was DeMarco Murray in 2014. It's been done before, but not during this current era of football.
What about those injuries up front?
Barkley has had to play behind a constantly shifting offensive line. Lane Johnson can't seem to stay healthy, nor can Cam Jurgens or Landon Dickerson.
Is it the offense in general?
This would probably be Barkley's answer, and he spoke about it a bit after Sunday night's 16-9 win over the Lions.
“You’ve got to look yourself in the mirror.," he said to reporters. "It’s easy to point the finger. But we didn’t play good enough. You can go by each group, each position. We all had plays we could have made. We all made mistakes. We had a lot of penalties. You’ve got to give credit to the defenses. They’re doing a good job. But at the same time, we’ve got to do a better job.”
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We mentioned the snaps earlier, and Barkley's percentage this year is higher but not the total number. That's because the Eagles offense runs on average 58.7 plays per game, tied for 24th most. Last year it was 65.1 plays. The Eagles offense has been inconsistent and it's been worse than average gaining just the 25th most total yards this year.
"Make no mistake about it, our goal in every single game is to come out with a win, period," head coach Nick Sirianni said after watching his offense get outgained for the eighth time in 10 games this season. "Sometimes, the game's played a little bit differently in that, and we were able to get a 10-point lead. Every game is played to win, but do we have to clean up things on offense? Of course we do."
The most important stat for Barkley, however, is exactly the same. The Eagles are 8-2 and in control of the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Is winning sustainable with Barkley running for 3.8 yards per carry?
"Everybody's got to be all hands on deck and trying to improve that," Jalen Hurts said late Sunday. "Nothing takes over the precedent of winning. That's what it's all about. With winning in mind and with winning being the number one thing that doesn't dismiss, we got some work to do. Work to do and we need to improve."
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