Turf Show Times
Barkley is due for regression after a heavy workload and because of the “Madden curse”
It remains to be seen whether the Los Angeles Rams can make it over the hump and get back to the Super Bowl in 2025. One of the main obstacles in their way are the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Reigning offensive player of the year Saquon Barkley had his way with Los Angeles last season, amassing 534 yards and four touchdowns in two matchups.
The Rams spent the offseason preparing for Philly’s “tush push” and strengthening their run defense by signing Los Angeles Chargers free agent Poona Ford and then drafting Josaiah Stewart of Michigan and Ty Hamilton of Ohio State in the third and fifth round of the NFL Draft, respectively.
But even as LA doubles down on a strong defensive line, they may not need to worry about Barkley making the same impact in 2025.
I’d never root for injuries and neither should any fan. This should not be confused with such; however, there are times when you can point to inflated workloads and metrics and predict when individual players are due for a drop in production. That appears to be the case for Barkley heading into this season.
To briefly pat myself on the back, I do have a track record of predicting such regressions.
Between the regular season and the playoffs, the Eagles handed the ball to Barkley 436 times. He was targeted on 58 passing plays, hauling in 46 receptions. That makes for 482 total offensive touches.
This list by Pro Football Reference accumulates the running backs with the most touches in a single year, although it is limited to the regular season. Barkley ranks 96th all-time based on his 2024 season; however, if including the playoffs—without adjusting other players on the list—he’d instead rank second all-time behind James Wilder’s 1984 season with 492 touches for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
These are the other individuals in close proximity:
James Wilder (age 26): 492, 1984
Saquon Barkley (27): 482, 2024
Larry Johnson (26): 457, 2006
Eddie George (26): 453, 2000
LaDainian Tomlinson (23): 451, 2002
DeMarco Murray (26): 449, 2014
Now, this is how many touches these players had the following season:
James Wilder: 418
Larry Johnson: 188
Eddie George: 352
LaDainian Tomlinson: 413
DeMarco Murray: 237
Excluding Barkley, the remaining backs saw a 30% decline in their total offensive touches the following year. This drop is mostly attributable to Johnson, George, and Murray; however, it is still a firm warning that such a workload can take a toll and diminish both availability and effectiveness the next season.
Let’s take a look at some other factors that are potentially working against Barkley in 2025, although maybe closer to fable than truth.
These are the last three running backs to grace the cover of the Madden video game followed by how many games they played...
