Spring Wasn't ‘Special’ For Eagles’ RB

PHILADELPHIA - There’s a ton of context to the statement but spring work was hardly “special” for the biggest splash the Eagles made this offseason.

In five open glorified passing camp practices, Saquon Barkley was rarely used and when he was it was typically as a decoy or a checkdown. The rare instances the 2018 No. 2 overall pick was targeted in the passing game were wheel routes where linebackers Devin White and Zack Baun were in Barkley’s hip pocket, easily carrying the star running back down the field in pass coverage.

Perhaps that’s not surprising considering the athleticism of White but Baun running with Barkley, 27, is exactly the kind of matchup Kellen Moore will be trying to exploit down the road.

The excuse-makers lean on the fact it’s tough to get noticed playing RB in a spring environment but that ignores backup Kenny Gainwell, who was splashy early in OTAs before coming down with a case of the dropsies in minicamp. Rookie Will Shipley flipped that, fighting the football in OTAs before settling down and showing the potential the Eagles believe he has as a pass catcher in the minicamp.

Even undrafted rookie Kendall Milton, not known for his acumen in the passing game, showed off plenty of juice when Tanner McKee got him the football in the flat.

Admittedly, none of this will matter in September when the Eagles are playing real football, and Barkley’s impact on the running game is also factored in. At some point, Philadelphia’s imposing support system will also get more comfortable with Moore’s system.

There are significant red flags with Barkley, though, that the Eagles are choosing to ignore. The advanced statistics say Barkley hasn’t been a productive runner over a very large sample size now.

NFL RBs since 2021, Jaylen Warren muscle hamster pic.twitter.com/Cs4rymaBUf
— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) May 30, 2024

The premise of Barkley still being the uber-talented kid coming out of Penn State basically comes down to the admittedly poor supporting cast he played with for most of the time with the Giants.

Spring work can also be easily dismissed because the Eagles’ first-team offense as a whole was struggling with the ramp-up period with Moore’s offense.

You still saw the flashes from A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert, however, because special players find a way to shine in small windows no matter the circumstance.

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