The numbers simply defy belief.
Saquon Barkley is doing things nobody has ever done, and we’re here to bring you all the remarkable stats and numbers as Barkley piles up yards, big plays and touchdowns at an unprecedented rate.
Normally, we have a Roob’s 10 Eagles Stats post every week. This week, we’re breaking it up into two. This is a special edition Roob’s 10 Saquon Stats and then we have a non-Saquon Eagles Stats version here.
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1. With 658 yards, a 6.1 average and five touchdown runs, Barkley is only the seventh running back in NFL history with at least 600 yards, a 6.0 average and five TDs through six games. The others are Hall of Famers Jim Brown, Jim Taylor, O.J. Simpson and Terrell Davis, should-be Hall of Famer Jamal Lewis and future Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson. Barkley’s 658 rushing yards are most ever by an Eagles running back after six games. LeSean McCoy had the previous high with 630 in his 2013 all-pro season.
2. Barkley’s 10.4 rushing average Sunday is 3rd-highest in Eagles history by a back with a minimum of 15 carries and highest in 59 years. In 1965, Timmy Brown averaged 11.6 yards per carry in a game against the Browns at the old Municipal Stadium on 16-for-186. And in 1934, Swede Hanson averaged 10.6 yards per carry against the Cincinnati Reds on 18-for-190. That was in the Eagles’ 64-0 win in the only NFL game ever played at the old Temple Stadium at Cheltenham and Ogontz in West Oak Lane, now the home of the Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church (East).
3. With runs of 38, 41 and 55 yards, Barkley is the first Eagles running back in at least 34 years with three runs of at least 35 yards in the same game. There’s currently no way to search before 1991. This was actually only the second game since 1991 that the Eagles had three total scrimmage runs of at least 35 yards. In the 2013 win over the Lions – the game in the snow that LeSean McCoy set an Eagles record with 217 rushing yards – Shady had runs of 40 and 57 yards and Chris Polk had a 38-yarder. All were touchdowns.
4. Barkley’s 176 rushing yards are the most ever by an Eagles running back in the 186-game history of the Eagles-Giants rivalry. The previous high was 156 yards by Tom Sullivan in a 20-16 Eagles win at the Vet. The most ever against the Giants on the road was Miles Sanders’ 144 in the Eagles’ 48-22 win in 2022. The previous highest rushing average by an Eagle – again, minimum of 15 carries – was Tom Woodeshick’s 8.6 on 15-for-129 in a 34-25 Giants win at Franklin Field in 1968. Barkley’s 176 yards are the most by any back against the Giants in 15 years, since Jonathan Stewart of the Panthers had 206 at Giants Stadium in 2009.
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5. With a 65-yard run in New Orleans, a 59-yarder in Tampa and the 55-yarder Sunday in East Rutherford, Barkley already has three runs from scrimmage of at least 50 yards in his first six games in an Eagles uniform. In the last 30 years, only Shady (seven) and Sanders (five) have had more 50-yard runs in their entire Eagles career.
6. Barkley averaged 8.6 yards against the Saints, 8.4 against the Bucs and 10.4 against the Giants. He’s the first NFL player in 61 years with three games through the first six games of a season with three games with at least 10 carries and 8.0 yards per carry. The last to do it was Jim Brown in 1963. The only other back to with three such games through six games is Merl Condit of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1942. In just six games, Barkley already has the 2nd-most games with an 8.0 average in franchise history. Steve Van Buren had four. Michael Vick, Bosh Pritchard and Wilbert Montgomery also had three. He’s played six games.
7. Barkley’s 176 yards are 3rd-most ever at MetLife Stadium. Isaiah Crowell of the Jets ran for 219 yards against the Broncos in 2018 and Ahmad Bradshaw of the Giants rushed for 200 yards against the Browns in 2012. Rashad Jennings also had 176 yards – for the Giants vs. the Texans in 2014.
8. Through Week 7, Barkley has an NFL-high five runs of at least 35 yards. Only five other NFL backs have more than one. The last running back with at least five 35-yard runs through six games is Chris Johnson of the Titans in 2010.
9. Barkley’s 176 rushing yards are 13th-most in Eagles history and 6th-most in a road game, behind Duce Staley vs. the Cowboys in 2000 at Texas Stadium (201), Van Buren in 1949 vs. the Rams at L.A. Coliseum, Brown’s performance in Cleveland in 1965 (186), McCoy at FedEx in 2013 (184) and Brown vs. the Cards in 1965 at Busch Stadium (180).
10. Barkley has more games with 15 carries and 8.0 yards per attempt in six games as an Eagle (three) than he had in 81 games as a Giant (two).
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