tenure. I think that's why HSG is talking about Saquon—he's dreaming of a scenario where a quality back fits with a quality team
Exactly.
In the 2nd reference to him my point was that viewing the SB in isolation, the casual observer might not think Barkley was that great. But one would have to ignore the entire season + his historic playoff run to have formulated that opinion.
I think Hall’s 2024 is being viewed through that narrow lens by many. It’s a combination of recency bias + a general distain for the position that’s evolved over the years in FF, and seemingly the NFL draft. But big picture the take away I have is that running backs still matter. Running the ball matters. Barkley’s game included 6 receptions, and most were important to sustaining drives.
Looking at the NFL as a whole, the teams in the playoffs all had quality running backs, with the Chiefs being somewhat the exception. Hunt/Pacheco scared no one. The Chargers suffered quite a bit once their run game evaporated due to injury but they were a pretty successful run-heavy team. Teams like HOU (Mixon), GB (Jacobs), WAS (Robinson & Eke), BUF (Cook), Rams (Williams) and of course Eagles with Barkley’s top 6 all-time rushing season were all successful because of the quality of their RBs/OL.
To me, this season was a huge statement that the devaluation of the NFL running back is an enormous miscalculation by NFL franchises. I don’t think they’ll learn from it & start drafting backs higher again - maybe a few teams will, but it’s unlikely. Seems like more of an economic decision than one supported by evidence on the field.
And to that point, there should be a trade market for Hall - I’m sure a lot of the teams that watched the Eagles get Barkley and shrugged are signing a different tune about now.