The New York Giants and their fan base have already swallowed a somewhat bitter pill after losing running back Saquon Barkley in free agency to the Philadelphia Eagles.
But if the bold prediction made by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler during a recent episode of SportsCenter comes to fruition this season, things could go from bad to worse.
"The feeling around the league talking to several teams is that Saquon Barkley will make a major impact, maybe even like Christian McCaffrey-to-[San Fransisco 49ers] type impact because he's never had this sort of supporting cast, this kind of offensive line," Fowler said [h/t Bleacher Report]. "He's going to make [Jalen] Hurts' job a lot easier."
Since being traded from the Carolina Panthers, McCaffrey has seemingly found new life with the 49ers. He earned NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors last season, rushing for 1,459 yards, 564 receiving yards, and 21 total touchdowns. McCaffrey also played a key role in the 49ers' dominant Super Bowl run, ending in a tightly contested overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Barkley’s move to the Eagles, who, until proven otherwise, have a better offensive line than the Giants, could lead to a similar success story. The Eagles have already been to a Super Bowl under head coach Nick Sirianni and are led by Hurts, who nearly won the NFL Most Valuable Player award in 2022.
Last season, the Eagles finished second behind Dallas in the NFC East, earning a Wild Card berth. They ended up getting trounced by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Once the off-season began, rumors slowly developed that the Giants and Barkley could be headed for a split.
When Giants general manager Joe Schoen declined to use the franchise tag on Barkley for a second straight season due to the $11+ million price tag involved, it seemed just a matter of time before Barkley would bolt if he got a lucrative offer, which the Eagles were only too happy to serve.
But getting back to Fowler’s prediction, it’s fair to say that Barkley is not at the same level production-wise as McCaffrey. Barkley has dealt with injuries in all but two of his pro seasons. He’s always been more of a boom-or-bust runner, and he’s not quite as efficient in the passing game as the 49ers’ star.
Still, when healthy, Barkley has been the best player on the Giants’ offense, and it’s not been close. Last season, Barkley missed three games due to a high ankle sprain but still managed 962 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
Now that he’s with the Eagles, whose offensive line ranked 16th in pass-blocking efficiency last year, the hope in Philadelphia is that Barkley balls out and runs wild like his college production suggested he might do at the next level.
Whether Barkley can stay healthy will have huge implications on what degree of success the Eagles find with him in the backfield.
