Saquon Barkley’s remarkable season, the right decision on Joel Embiid, and other thoughts

First and final thoughts …

Among the many remarkable things that Saquon Barkley has done this season for the Eagles, the most remarkable is that he has helped restore the running back position to a place of high esteem in the NFL.

Granted, that shift might be only temporary. It isn’t so much that running backs as a whole are enjoying more respect as it is that Barkley and Derrick Henry — the best of the very best — have reminded everyone that outliers, no matter where they play, can be of immeasurable benefit to their teams.

Barkley has been so good that he has pushed himself into consideration for the league’s most valuable player award, no small feat at a time when the conventional wisdom around pro football is that the three most important positions are starting quarterback, backup quarterback, and third-string quarterback. With 1,392 rushing yards through 11 games, he could break Eric Dickerson’s single-season record of 2,105, though at his current pace, Barkley would need 17 games to do it. Dickerson set the record in 1984, when the NFL regular season was just 16 games.

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That recent expansion to 17 games actually does Barkley a disservice. It will warp his final statistics in comparison with other great seasons by other great backs. If, during the Eagles’ Week 18 game against the New York Giants, Barkley breaks Dickerson’s record, someone somewhere will argue that the new mark deserves an asterisk. Saquon needed an extra game in ‘24 to do what Eric did in ‘84.

That’s a shame, because at a minimum, there isn’t much doubt that Barkley is having the finest season of any running back in Eagles history. If you equalize Barkley’s stats and his best predecessors over 16 games, the greatness of his season stands out all the more.

Let’s do this chronologically.

Steve Van Buren, 1949 (a 16-game pace extrapolated from 12 games): 350 carries; 1,528 rushing yards; six receptions; 117 receiving yards; 16 total touchdowns.

Wilbert Montgomery, 1979: 338 carries; 1,512 rushing yards; 41 receptions; 494 receiving yards; 14 total touchdowns.

Ricky Watters, 1996: 353 carries; 1,411 rushing yards; 51 receptions; 444 receiving yards; 13 total touchdowns.

Brian Westbrook, 2007: 278 carries; 1,333 rushing yards; 90 receptions; 771 receiving yards; 12 total touchdowns.

LeSean McCoy, 2013: 314 carries; 1,607 rushing yards; 52 receptions; 539 receiving yards; 11 total touchdowns.

Barkley, 2024 (his 16-game pace): 324 carries; 2,025 rushing yards; 39 receptions; 374 receiving yards; 17 total touchdowns.

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Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, when asked a few days ago about the prospect of facing Lamar Jackson, Henry, and the Ravens offense on Sunday, said, “I’d rather play Swarthmore.”

Fangio was joking about the challenge that Jackson and Henry present, of course, but I like to think he was making a bigger point: that Swarthmore ought to bring the sport back. The college dissolved its football program in 2000.

The 76ers announced Friday that Joel Embiid would sit out their game Saturday against the Detroit Pistons because of “left knee injury management/personal reasons.” This daily dance — the question of whether Embiid will play, the mushy, euphemistic language to account for why he won’t — has long grown both tiresome and counterproductive.

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid remains sidelined for Sixers with knee problem, but Paul George could be nearing return

Rather than continuing to force coach Nick Nurse to be the team’s spokesman on this issue (a role he clearly doesn’t relish), it’s time for the Sixers to say what needs to be said and make the decision that needs to be made: We’re shutting Joel down for the season. It will give Embiid the time and opportunity to make rehabilitating his knee his highest priority. It will eliminate the uncertainty around his status. And it will increase the likelihood that the Sixers end up with a top-six pick in next year’s draft, which, like it or not, is their surest path back to being a respectable team again.