{"id":15852,"date":"2024-10-24T04:55:43","date_gmt":"2024-10-24T04:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=15852"},"modified":"2024-10-24T04:55:43","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T04:55:43","slug":"has-saquon-barkley-changed-the-eagles-identity-nick-sirianni-weighs-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=15852","title":{"rendered":"Has Saquon Barkley changed the Eagles’ identity? Nick Sirianni weighs in"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Saquon<\/p>\n

Through the first seven weeks of the 2024 NFL season,\u00a0Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley\u00a0has been one of the premier playmakers in the NFL.<\/p>\n

He ranks third in the league in rushing yards despite only having appeared in six games, has a long run in basically every game so far this season, and through it all? Barkley has remained the consummate professional, allowing the younger guys to \u201ceat\u201d instead of going after a new career high.<\/p>\n

Now granted, the Eagles have always been a good rushing team pretty much since Jeff Stoutland came to town during the Chip Kelly regime, flirting with a thousand rushing yards in pretty much every season since, regardless of who was running the ball, from Ryan Mathews to Josh Adams, or most recently DeAndre Swift. But with Barkley running the show? Goodness, the rushing offense looks like a completely different beast, especially when Jalen Hurts is ripping off runs, too.<\/p>\n

Should the Eagles really lean into what Barkley brings to the table and make running the ball a more central part of their identity, pairing a strong ground game with explosive shots down the field like in Week 7? Well\u00a0Nick Sirianni\u00a0was asked that very question during his Wednesday media session and\u00a0gave fans a very interesting answer indeed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, again, we do what we need to do to win each game. There\u2019s going to be a game where we\u2019re going to have to pass it a bunch. There\u2019s going to be a game we\u2019re going to have to run it again like that. It\u2019s just all going to be week-to-week,\u201d Sirianni told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain, you want to stay in things that you do well, but everything is going to be week-to-week based off of what\u2019s going right that week. We\u2019ll see as the year progresses.\u201d<\/p>\n

On one hand, teams really can’t count on 170-plus rushing yards per game from their lead back as their top offensive option, as opposing defenses really can clog up the running lanes with multiple bodies in the middle of the defense. When that happens, however, the Eagles really need to capitalize on single coverage on the outside with a single-high safety in the middle of the field, as that’s the 1B requirement of this sort of offensive identity.<\/p>\n

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