Saquon Barkley sits near the top of the Eagles’ 2026 importance list for a reason: what he did in 2024 was enormous, and what happened in 2025 showed just how much the offense still runs through him.
The Eagles are counting down their 25 most important players for the 2026 season, and Barkley comes in at No. 6.
He follows Jordan Mailata at No. 7, Cooper DeJean at No.
8, Zack Baun at No. 9 and Jonathan Greenard at No. 10.
The list also includes Jordan Davis, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Riq Woolen, Makai Lemon, Dallas Goedert, Jalyx Hunt, Nolan Smith, Jihaad Campbell, Drew Mukuba, Moro Ojomo, Tyler Steen, Dontayvion Wicks, Marcus Epps and Eli Stowers.
Barkley’s first year in Philadelphia was the kind of season that changes expectations. The Eagles won the Super Bowl with him powering the offense, and he piled up more than 2,000 rushing yards while earning Offensive Player of the Year honors. That set a brutal standard for what came next.
In 2025, Barkley still crossed 1,000 yards, finishing with 1,140 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. But the efficiency dipped hard.
His yards per carry fell from 5.8 to 4.1, and his yards per game dropped from 125.3 to 71.3. The offensive line seemed to take plenty of the blame, but Barkley kept the focus on himself.
“Obviously, we don’t like the way the season ended,” Barkley said this spring. “I personally don’t like how my year went.
I don’t like how I performed for the team. I don’t feel like I performed at a high enough level.
“And that’s the beauty of it. It’s easy when you rush for all these yards and you win a Super Bowl, it’s easy to watch film and move on to the next chapter. But when it doesn’t go the way you want it to be, you gotta lock in even more, be more detailed in yourself, be more critical of yourself.”
The numbers tell the story across his first two Eagles seasons. In 2024, Barkley had 345 carries for 2,005 yards, 13 touchdowns, 3.8 yards before contact per attempt, 1.6 yards after contact per attempt and 1.6 rushing yards over expected per attempt. In 2025, those totals shifted to 280 carries, 1,140 yards, seven touchdowns, 2.5 yards before contact per attempt, 1.6 yards after contact per attempt and 0.3 rushing yards over expected per attempt.
Now 29 and heading into his ninth NFL season, Barkley looked strong and fast this spring. The Eagles are hoping that version shows up again in 2026.
The plan is tied to a new wide-zone running scheme under new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, with the Eagles expected to be under center much more often. Barkley said he has long liked that style from a distance, and he even reached out to Todd Gurley, who found big success in a version of the Shanahan offense.
“Under center you can see a little clearer. You’re not blinded,” Barkley said.
“When you’re in gun, you’re really kind of focused on this side. You’re able to get your shoulders square easier.
I don’t know if y’all know what that means. Like if you have an inside run, from guy you gotta really work on getting your shoulder square so you can see the whole field.
From under center, it’s easier. You can get downhill a little quicker.
“You can threaten them with stretches and outside zone a lot more. There’s a lot of unique things you can do.
It’s not no secret what this system is about. Look forward to doing that.
It’s probably the most I have ever done it, under center too, outside zone and all that stuff. It’s a challenge I’m looking forward to working on and getting better at and trying to be the best at it.”
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