Philadelphia Eagles operating again Saquon Barkley wants 268 yards over the subsequent two video games to set the NFL single-season speeding yardage file.
One individual not pulling for Barkley to set the mark: present file holder Eric Dickerson.
“I do not assume he’ll break it. But if he breaks it, he breaks it,” Dickerson told the Los Angeles Times this week. “Do I need him to interrupt it? Absolutely not. I do not pull no punches on that.
“But I’m not whining about it. He had 17 video games to do it? Hey, soccer is soccer. That’s the best way I have a look at it. If he is lucky to recover from 2,000 yards and get the file, it is an awesome file to have.”
Dickerson set the speeding file in 1984 with 2,105 yards in 16 video games. Barkley is at 1,838 yards by 15 video games, a median barely off record-setting tempo (2,083 yards).
But with Jalen Hurts within the concussion protocol and likely out for Week 17, the Eagles might flip to their marquee free agent pickup this offseason to deal with a good greater function towards the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants — Barkley’s former crew and an opportunity for some potential payback, Dickerson mentioned.
“How ironic wouldn’t it be for him to interrupt the file on them, the crew that permit him go,” Dickerson mentioned of the Week 18 matchup. “A real slap within the face.”
Although he might not be pulling for him, Dickerson praised Barkley as a “nice participant” who’s “elusive, he is robust, he runs onerous.”
And if Barkley units the file, Dickerson mentioned he can relaxation on one other mark that he views because the hardest to interrupt.
“I’ve all the time mentioned that the one which’s going to final the longest is me setting the rookie file with 1,808 [yards],” he mentioned. “Because you solely get one shot at that. You’re solely a rookie as soon as.”
