- Saquon Barkley had nearly 200 total yards against Washington on Thursday
- He already has 10 touchdowns in the year after leaving the Giants for the Eagles
Saquon Barkley was the star of the show in the Eagles’ 26-18 victory over the Commanders on Thursday night, and many NFL fans thought the same about him after the game.
Barkley paced Philadelphia’s NFC East rivals with 146 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, adding 52 receiving yards, and has now surpassed 100 rushing yards in four of the last five games.
And after Barkley’s most recent impressive performance, fans believe he should be firmly in the running for the NFL’s most prestigious individual award.
“Saquon Barkley has entered the MVP conversation,” said one on X.
‘Saquon Barkley is going to win the NFL MVP. Hahaha great job @Giants,’ another added about New York’s decision to let him leave in free agency.
Saquon Barkley turned in another dazzling performance Thursday against the Commanders
The running back totaled 198 yards and two touchdowns as Philadelphia earned a vital victory.
A third fan said, “Still not sure how Saquon Barkley isn’t in the MVP conversation.” (In my opinion) he was right after Lamar (Jackson).’
Barkley also received some signatures from former players, as former Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III said the 27-year-old had “stumbled into the MVP race.”
Veteran backup quarterback Chase Daniel also asked, “When are we going to put Saquon Barkley directly at the top of every MVP list? Without Saquon, the Eagles are NOT the Eagles.”
After the Eagles’ win on Thursday, the team is 8-2 on the year and Barkley leads the league with 1,137 rushing yards.
However, if Barkley wins the MVP, 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 running backs too).
All three players surpassed 1,800 rushing yards in their MVP seasons (with Peterson’s 2,097 yards second-most in a single season), so Barkley may need to have a similarly spectacular year to frustrate players like Jackson and Josh Allen.
Those two are considered the main contenders for the award, while Barkley wasn’t even in SportsGrid the six best betting odds ahead of his performance on Thursday.
Barkley will try to continue building his case for MVP next week when the Eagles take on the Rams.