Can Eagles’ Saquon Barkley become first running back to win MVP since 2012?

Eric Williams

NFL Reporter

There’s no question that Saquon Barkley has transformed the offense for the Philadelphia Eagles.

During Philadelphia’s current seven-game winning streak, Barkley has accounted for nearly 40 percent of the offense, rushing for a league-high 957 rushing yards and six touchdowns during that time span.

Barkley was unstoppable in a 37-20 road victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12, rushing for a career-high 255 yards. He had two rushing touchdowns of over 70 yards.

“He’s a different type of player,” Rams rookie edge rusher Jared Verse said after the game. “I’ve never seen a running back like that. He can go downhill. He can bounce. And he did both of those on us, so we have to be better across the board.” 

Barkley leads the league with 1,392 rushing yards, already his career high, and he’s on pace to eclipse the 2,000-yard mark for the season. But even doing that will not guarantee him the NFL MVP award.

Just last year, Christian McCaffrey led the league in scrimmage yards (2,023) and total touchdowns (21), yet the 49ers star finished third in the MVP voting. In 2009, Chris Johnson became the sixth NFL player to rush for more than 2,000 yards with 2,006, yet Peyton Manning won the MVP award that season. Derrick Henry totaled a career-high 2,027 rushing yards in 2020 but did not finish among the MVP finalists, instead winning Offensive Player of the Year.

LeSean McCoy makes the case for Saquon Barkley as MVP

The last running back to win the MVP was Adrian Peterson in 2012. He rushed for 2,097 yards that season. 

Quarterbacks have won the award the past 11 seasons. Also, during that time, the MVP winner played for a team with either a No. 1 or No. 2 playoff seed. 

For Barkley to overcome the QB bias and have a realistic shot to win the award, he’ll have to do something historic — like break Eric Dickerson’s single-season NFL rushing record of 2,105 yards. And it…

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Publish date : 2024-11-26 15:37:00

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