It seems like it would be too early to state this, but Saquon Barkley is a different animal. Once it's said and done, he can go down as one of the greatest tailbacks to ver don a Philadelphia Eagles jersey.
We've long known of his brilliance. He's been wowing us since we first met him as a prep star. Then, he went to Penn State, and the legend grew. He entered the NFL and we tried to dislike him because he was drafted by one of Philly's biggest rivals.
We didn't let his affiliation discourage us from complimenting him. Refusal to do so could have placed us in the area of being 'haters'... And, we couldn't have that.
We're past all of that now. He's one of us now, a member of the Philadelphia Eagles family. We don't have to tell you how brilliant and phenomenal he's been since his arrival.
And, the hits keep on coming.
We've lost track of how many honors Saquon Barkley has been given.
Each step of the process has been exciting. Number 26 in green has done something phenomenal EVERY WEEK, so much so that we've almost completely forgotten that his former Penn State backup, Miles Sanders, wore that same Eagles jersey number before him.
Week 9 brought another Saquon showcase, a rushing and receiving TD, and a highlight-reel moment for the ages. It wasn't technically an 'Angry Run', though we wouldn't have had any issue with him wielding the scepter again. Kyle Brandt elected to give that to Daniel Jones after Week 9's slate of games.
Oh well... Saquon's going to have to settle for another NFC Offensive Player of the Week win.
Joe Mixon was Pro Football Focus's highest-graded RB of the week and earned a spot on PFF's Team of the Week this past Tuesday. We would have given that to Saquon as well. Maybe we needed a break though. There aren't enough words in the English language to describe this young man's brilliance.
We thought we were the only ones experiencing that issue. It appears we aren't.
His impact on Philadelphia's offense has been phenomenal. He's certainly in the running for the NFC's Offensive Player of the Year Award. Our only hope is Philly doesn't overwork him and he's fresh for the coming postseason. He's on pace to eclipse over 300 carries before we arrive there.