Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson issued a warning to NFL defenses lining up to stop Saquon Barkley this season.
“We’ll see the Saquon of two years ago,” Johnson said, speaking after Wednesday’s joint practice with the Patriots.
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That’s right. Johnson believes Barkley — operating in the Eagles‘ new offensive scheme tailored to his strengths — will return to the historic form he had in 2024.
That would be a welcome sight for Eagles fans everywhere.
Barkley was unstoppable in his debut season in Philly, earning Offensive Player of the Year honors and becoming just the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards.
The former Penn State star racked up an NFL-high 2,283 scrimmage yards, a career-high 6.0 yards per touch and seven rushes of 40-plus yards. It felt like he could take it to the house every time he touched the ball.
That wasn’t the case in 2025.
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Barkley actually put up solid numbers (1,140 rushing yards) behind an injury-plagued line in a disjointed offense. But he had to fight for yards and work against defenses stacking the box against unimaginative play-caller Kevin Patullo.
Barkley shouldered the blame for last season’s stagnant run game. The good thing is, Sean Mannion’s under-center offense with an emphasis on wide-zone runs should make things easier on the three-time Pro Bowler.
Johnson said the new scheme “stretches the defense out,” creating “a lot more room” for Barkley to make defenders miss. It’s a scheme Barkley has never played in before. But it’s one that excites him.
“I feel like I have a chance to be really good in this system,” Barkley said at the start of training camp. “I feel like it’s going to open up some things that I may not have been able to show as much in my career.”
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One of the aspects of Barkley’s game that he hasn’t shown much, at least with the Eagles, is the passing game.
Barkley, who had only 70 catches for 551 receiving yards over the last two seasons, should have a chance to get more involved out of the backfield — something that flashed during Wednesday’s practice in New England.
“We’ll see the big plays,” Johnson said. “We’ll see him flexing out wide at receiver. We’ll see him in the screen game.”
And according to Johnson, we’ll see the version of Barkley that lit up NFL defenses, week in, week out.
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