When people are so desperate to figure out what is going on with a player who is struggling, they will grasp at anything they can hold on to for a reason.
It's no secret that Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley hasn't played up to the standards he is used to. Barkley went from averaging 125.3 yards per game in 2024 to just 52.7 yards per game on the ground.
In 2024, Barkley was playing on a whole different level with 2,005 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns. He was the AP Offensive Player of the Year and helped capture a Super Bowl for the Eagles.
The 2025 campaign hasn't even had him rush for over 100 yards in any of the first seven games. His best rushing performance was against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2 when he rushed for 88 yards and a touchdown. He hasn't scored a rushing touchdown in the last three games and hasn't hit over 60 yards in a game since that Chiefs game.
Some might chalk it up to the Madden curse. Others have a different theory.
Has Barkley been doing too much off the field?
Now there is a perception that Barkley might have spent a little less time focused on football this offseason and a little more time enjoying doing commercials and other activities outside of football. This was a narrative Barkley wanted to shut down when the media immediately asked him about it.
"I do a commercial in March, April, May — and when I do it, I have my team make sure I don't do anything when I'm working on that day, I do it on my off day — so something I do in April has no effect on how I run in the ball in September or October, to be completely honest."
It's wild that, all of a sudden, the blame for Barkley's struggles is what he does in the offseason. The reality is, Barkley hasn't had 20 total touches in a game in the last three games. That's something he can't control. That's on his offensive coordinator, Kevin Patullo.
Too many times in a game does Patullo completely abandon the running game and put more on quarterback Jalen Hurts, rather than trusting Barkley. In their two losses, Barkley was averaging between 4.5 and five yards a carry, so there was no reason to move away from running the ball with him.
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People are panicking and trying to identify the root cause of the problem when they should focus on finding a solution. Right now, for the Eagles, the offense is improving, but it would hit their full potential if Barkley were getting more touches, and Patullo and company know that.