Can You Trust Saquon Barkley In 2024? Fantasy Football Outlook

Saquon Barkley is now a part of the Philadelphia Eagles, and things are about to get super interesting. Just a year ago, the Eagles were the best team in the NFC and almost won the Super Bowl, and Barkley was the best running back in the conference.

Now things have changed. Time goes by very quickly in football, and the perception of a player and team can change in less than a year. The Eagles went from Super Bowl favorites in early December to one of the worst teams in football, winning just one of their next seven games. Meanwhile, Barkley missed three games in the early stages of the season, and the Giants could never recover from their 0-3 record in that period. Now, people are asking if the injury-prone Barkley can succeed in an Eagles team that has changed quite a bit from last season.

Can you trust Barkley in 2024? Let's dive in and find the answer to that question.

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Saquon Barkley's 2023 Season Recap

Before 2023, Barkley either started the season well or terribly. He went off for over 100 rushing yards in Week 1 of 2018, 2019, and 2022, and only had 32 rushing yards in Week 1 of 2020 and 2021 combined.

Those Week 1 performances typically set the tone for him for the rest of the season. His Week 1 performance in 2023 was a mediocre outing against the rival Cowboys, racking up just 51 yards.

Saquon Barkley 2023 full highlights pic.twitter.com/DGE0mBpGeF

— Way Outside The Nest Podcast (@outsidethenest_) March 12, 2024

Barkley finished as the PPR RB3 in Week 2 with an awesome performance against the Cardinals with a rushing and receiving TD. As mentioned before, he missed three games right after that performance, and it looked like the Giants' season was over right then and there.

Barkley's season was summed up perfectly during his Week 8 outing against the Jets. He ran for 128 yards on 36 attempts, which set the record for the most rushing attempts by any player since 2018 (later broken by Breece Hall). However, he had no receiving yards in that game, which tanked his fantasy point potential.

The Giants struggled with Daniel Jones' injury and failed to provide Barkley with a consistently healthy QB, which negatively affected his receiving output. He still had two excellent fantasy games in Week 11 (RB1) and Week 18 (RB7), both occurring when Tommy Devito and Tyrod Taylor had their best games of the season. In short, Barkley couldn't rack up receiving yards without Daniel Jones, and it tanked his fantasy points.

How Will Saquon Barkley Fit Into Philadelphia's Offense?

In 2022, Barkley showed that he could still have a dominant fantasy season with Daniel Jones throwing him the ball and a league-average offensive line (14th-ranked run-blocking O-Line by PFF).

So imagine how high his upside could be with a QB like Jalen Hurts and the Eagles' elite offensive line. Sure, Jason Kelce is gone, but they retained their four remaining starters and should still have a top-ten O-Line in the NFL. With that information, let's cast our minds back to 2018...

Since Saquon was drafted in 2018:

Giants: 34-64-1
Eagles: 56-42-1

You get to win now, Saquon. pic.twitter.com/1gah7XYWb3

— StatMuse NFL (@statmusenfl) March 20, 2024

As a rookie, Barkley had a good and reliable QB in Eli Manning, and he also had a decent, yet unspectacular, offensive line that came alive in the second half of the season. Barkley thrived, finishing the season as the overall fantasy RB1. He ran for 1,307 yards and 11 touchdowns, while also adding 721 yards in the air and four receiving scores. The Eagles aren't exactly known for involving their RBs in the receiving game, but new OC Kellen Moore can change that.

In 2022, Tony Pollard averaged 23.2 receiving yards per game as the RB2, while Austin Ekeler averaged 31.1 yards per game last season. These RBs both played under Moore in those respective seasons, and it's not far-fetched to expect Barkley to rack up 60 catches in 2024.

Can You Trust Saquon Barkley In 2024?

Kellen Moore certainly has a lot of faith in his new star man. "We’ve got to try to utilize him as much as we can while understanding it’s a long season for running backs," said Moore when asked about Barkley.

Yes, his legs aren't as fresh as before, but he will be playing with the most offensive talent he has ever played with. With Jalen Hurts and the Eagles' offensive line, there's a lot that can go right this season for the former Giants superstar.

I am a believer in fans should fan however they want but I don’t blame Saquon Barkley one bit for taking his best offer, on a team with historically elite run blocking that keeps adding to OL, and a team that could compete for Championships.
It was the best decision for him.

— Dan Schneier (@DanSchneierNFL) March 11, 2024

Another factor will be Barkley's health. Barkley has gone through tons of ankle injuries in his career, with his worst injury being the ACL and MCL tears he suffered in Week 2 of 2020 which cost him an entire season.

His availability has improved since that major setback, as he has averaged 14.3 games a season over the last three years. Ultimately, your trust in Barkley depends on your trust in the Eagles. If you believe in this new-look Eagles team, you can trust Barkley in 2024.

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