PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – DECEMBER 15: Saquon Barkley #26 of the Philadelphia Eagles runs with the ball against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on December 15, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Put Saquon Barkley into the NFL history books.
The Philadelphia Eagles running back became the ninth running back in NFL history on Sunday to reach 2,000 rushing yards in a single season. He reached the milestone in the fourth quarter against the Dallas Cowboys.
Barkley has posted sensational seasons before. But he never approached the heights of his debut campaign with the Eagles in his six previous NFL seasons with the New York Giants.
Barkley’s previous career-high rushing total was 1,312 yards in 2022. He averaged 4.4 yards per carry and 82 rushing yards per game that season. As a rookie in 2018, he averaged five yards per carry and 81.7 yards per game en route to 1,307 yards on the ground.
Barkley also saw his share of struggles while playing behind poor offensive lines on a Giants team that’s languished among the league’s worst since he’s been in the NFL. He twice averaged fewer than four yards per carry (3.7 in 2021 and 3.9 in 2023), leading to speculation that he’d lost the explosiveness that made him one of the NFL’s best playmakers early in his career.