- Saquon Barkley reached almost 200 yards vs. Washington
- He has maxed out 10 TDs in the year since leaving the Giants for the Eagles
Saquon Barkley was the star of the show in the Eagles’ 26-18 win over the Commanders on Thursday night, and many NFL fans had the same thoughts about him after the game.
Barkley outgained Philly’s NFC East rivals for 146 yards and two touchdowns on the ground — adding 52 receiving yards — and has now topped 100 rushing yards in four of the past five games.
And after Barkley’s latest impressive performance, fans believe he should definitely be in the running for the NFL’s most prestigious individual award.
“Saquon Barkley has entered the MVP conversation,” someone on X said.
“Saquon Barkley is going to win the NFL MVP. Lol, great job @Giants,” another added of New York’s decision to let him leave free.
Saquon Barkley put in another stellar performance against the Commanders on Thursday
The running back totaled 198 yards and two touchdowns as Philly earned a crucial win
A third fan said, “I’m still not sure how Saquon Barkley isn’t in the MVP conversation. [In my opinion] he follows right behind Lamar [Jackson].’
Barkley also received some co-signs from former players, as former Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III said the 27-year-old “put himself in the MVP Race.”
Chase Daniel also wondered, “When are we going to put Saquon Barkley at the top of every MVP list? Without Saquon, the Eagles are NOT the Eagles.”
After the Eagles’ win on Thursday, the team has an 8-2 record on the year and Barkley has a lead of 1,137 rushing yards.
If Barkley wins MVP, however, he would join an increasingly rare group of non-quarterbacks who have won the award.
The last player to do so was running back Adrian Peterson in 2012, preceded by LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006 and Shaun Alexander in 2005 (both also running backs).
All three of these players topped 1,800 rushing yards in their MVP seasons (with Peterson’s 2,097 being the second-most ever in a single season), so Barkley may need to have an equally spectacular year to thwart Jackson and Josh Allen.
These two are considered the top contenders for the award, while Barkley wasn’t even in the running from SportsGrid top six betting odds ahead of his performance on Thursday.
Barkley will look to continue his case for MVP next week when the Eagles take on the Rams.