The collapse of the Eagles’ offense last season was as sudden as a heart attack.
One day everything was going swimmingly. The next, Jalen Hurts & Co. were having trouble figuring out how to walk and chew gum at the same time.
After averaging 28.2 points per game in a 10-1 start, the Eagles forgot the way to the end zone in their last seven games, averaging just 18.8 points per game in an ugly 1-6 finish that was lowlighted by a 32-9 playoff loss to Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Bucs.
First downs per game fell from 22.7 in the first 11 games to 16.7 in the last 7. Their third-down success rate dropped nearly seven points (47.3 in the first 11 games, 40.9 in the last seven) and their red-zone touchdown percentage nose-dived 10 points.
Hurts fell off a cliff down the stretch. He had a good-but-certainly-not-great 94.9 passer rating in the first 11 games and a is-that-Trevor-Siemian-out-there 81.4 rating in the last seven. Averaged a touchdown pass every 19.8 pass attempts in the first 11 games and one every 35.9 attempts in the last seven.
His completion percentage plummeted from 67.6 to 62.8 and his yards-per-attempt-average fell from 7.5 to 6.6.
So, what’s changed since the Bucs held them to 276 yards, 13 first downs and one measly touchdown in January? Well, head coach Nick Sirianni hired a new offensive coordinator – Kellen Moore.
The heart and soul of their offensive line, future Hall of Fame center Jason Kelce, rode off into the sunset. And, oh yeah, they signed running back Saquon Barkley.
Moore will be making some schematic changes to the offense, which almost certainly is a good thing since opposing defenses had figured out Sirianni’s offense. Losing Kelce certainly isn’t a good thing. But if anybody can figure out how to survive the departure of Mr. Hoagiefest, it’s Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland.
Which brings us to Barkley.
This appears to be another great get by general manager Howie Roseman, who once again proved why he is the smartest salary cap chess player in the NFL.
Between giving quarterback Daniel Jones a four-year, $160 million contract extension in November that included a huge $47.9 million cap hit in 2024, and needing cap space to rebuild his offensive line, Giants GM Joe Schein felt there was no way he could afford to re-sign Barkley, who finished 16th in rushing yards (962) and 30th in rush average (3.9) in 2023.
“You’re paying the guy (Jones) $40 million,’’ Schoen said recently. “It’s not to hand the ball off to a $12 million back (Barkley).’’
And yet, Roseman, who signed his own quarterback to a five-year, $255 million extension just seven months before Jones signed, had absolutely no problem finding the cap room to sign Barkley to a three-year, $37.75 million deal that includes $26 million in guaranteed money.
That’s because Roseman didn’t need to frontload Hurts’ deal like Schoen had to do with Jones. Hurts’ cap number in 2024 is just $13.5 million. It’s only $21.8 million next year and $31.8 million in 2026. That has left Roseman with plenty of cap space to further strengthen the rest of his roster.
Now, whether the Eagles will get their money’s worth from the Barkley signing is still to be determined. Running backs clearly have been devalued.
Since the Giants selected Barkley with the second pick in the 2018 draft, just six running backs have been taken in the first round, just two higher than 24th overall – Bijan Robinson (No. 8 by Atlanta in 2023) and Jahmyr Gibbs (No. 12 by Detroit also in ‘2023).
The devaluation has been caused by an imbalance in supply and demand.
“It’s the only position where there are more quality players than there is need,’’ former Eagles president Joe Banner told me last year. “You don’t need more than a high school economics course to figure out that when that happens, the price goes down and people get picked later.
“I’ve never spoken to a general manager who didn’t think running backs were really important. But you can get a (very good) running back in the second or third round or even later rounds, and he’ll frequently be as good or better than somebody taken in the top 10.’’
Until the Barkley signing, that has basically been the Eagles’ approach toward running backs during Roseman’s tenure.
Since 2015, they have drafted five of them, just one higher than the fourth round. That was Penn State’s Miles Sanders, who they took in the second round in 2019. And even after he rushed for 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2022, the Eagles let him walk when he became a free agent.
So, why the shift in thinking with respect to Barkley? Well, the offensive collapse last season, along with the arrival of a new coordinator and a new scheme, almost certainly are factors.
Barkley is a much better running back than his former Nittany Lion buddy Sanders. Or at least he was.
At 27, he does have a lot of mileage on his tires. He’s got nearly 1,500 NFL touches on top of nearly 800 in three seasons in Happy Valley. He also tore his right ACL in 2020 and has been slowed by ankle injuries in two of the last three seasons. So, durability is an issue.
But if he can stay reasonably healthy, the Eagles think he still can be one of the league’s most dangerous runners, both inside and outside. And just as important as his running ability is what Roseman, Moore and Sirianni believe Barkley can bring to what is expected to be a more diversified passing attack.
Eagles running backs had 74 receptions last year, but averaged just 6.1 yards per catch. In Sirianni’s first three seasons, the team’s running backs have averaged just 6.3 yards per catch.
They haven’t had a running back with 50 or more catches since Sanders caught 50 passes as a rookie in 2019. They haven’t had a tight end with more than 59 catches since 2019 when Zach Ertz had 88 receptions.
The Eagles have one of the best wide receiver tandems in the league in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
They combined for 62.0 percent of the Eagles’ receiving yards and 58.3 percent of their touchdown receptions last season. But opposing defenses were able to neutralize them down the stretch, and Hurts seemed at a loss to locate other options.
Brown and Smith had eight 100-yard receiving performances in the first 11 games. Averaged 162.5 receiving yards in those 11 games.
In the last seven, they had two 100-yard receiving games and averaged just 126 per game. Brown didn’t have any touchdown passes in the Eagles’ seven-game collapse. Smith only had two.
In Sirianni’s three seasons as head coach and boss man of the offense, the Eagles used two-running back personnel packages just 35 times in 3,311 plays. Look for that to change with Moore running the offense.
The Eagles have three very good receiving backs in Barkley, Kenny Gainwell and rookie Will Shipley, all of whom can line up anywhere in the formation and put pressure on a defense.
Barkley knows he has something to prove. There are a lot of people who think the Eagles overpaid big-time for him. There are a lot of people who think he’s a shell of the running back who piled up 2,028 yards from scrimmage, averaged 5.0 yards per carry and caught 91 passes as a rookie.
“That’s [BS],’’ he said in a recent interview with the Inquirer’s E.J. Smith. “For me, it’s simple. When I’m on the field, I’m [still] one of the best, if not the best. I just have to stay on the field. Everything I want is still there.
"Everything I wanted to accomplish [when I came into the NFL], I can still go out there and do it. I just have to believe in myself and go to work. If it doesn’t happen, it wasn’t in the cards. But every day, I’m going to try to climb up that mountain and try to make it to the top.’’ *
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