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Weekend winners
Saquon Barkley. The Eagles RB1 became just the ninth NFL player to eclipse 2,000 yards in a season. And, granted, it will be in a 17-game season, and he’s 100 yards back of Eric Dickerson’s all-time NFL rushing total of 2,105. The big question, of course, is whether Barkley will see meaningful snaps in the Philly finale since the Eagles are locked into the 2 seed win or lose next week.
Jayden Daniels. Dude is him, and is an effortless and fearless runner. So we discussed last week how Mike Vick came along two decades too soon because he would be unstoppable in the modern age when teams are willing to use mobile QBs. The reverse may be true too, because if you can’t move at least a little in this day and age, you are a sitting duck back there with the increased speed of the game. Case in point: At the height of his powers with the Giants, Hall of Famer Eli Manning would be what (blank-level) QB in today’s game? I say average. At best. I would not want peak Eli over what I’m seeing from Jayden or Goff or Herbert, and that’s not even getting into the big four or five of Mahomes, Allen, Jackson and Burrow.
Sam Darnold. Maybe that’s the best comp for the modern Eli, no? But Darnold was brilliant Sunday (76.7% completion, 377 yards, three TDs) and continues to add leverage to his off season of Sam. Dude is going to get paid.