Saquon Barkley has yet to deliver an explosive game in 2025. The New York Giants don’t want to be his first victim.
“You don’t want to be the team that lets him warm up,” defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said Tuesday ahead of New York’s Week 6 home game against the Philadelphia Eagles, via the team’s official transcript. “So you have to stay disciplined on Thursday and win.”
In five games, Barkley has 267 rushing yards and three rushing scores. He didn’t surpass 90 yards rushing or reach 100 yards from scrimmage in a week.
Coming off a 2,005-yard campaign in 2024, Barkley has yet to take off. His season-long run so far is 17 yards. Last year, he had 17 runs of 20+ yards and seven runs of 40+ yards.
At this point, the chicken-or-the-egg question is whether last year’s 345 carries wear on Barkley — as is historically the case with 2K rushers — or whether his usage under new offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo is the root cause. The reality is probably a bit of both.
In Week 6, Barkley had six carries for 30 yards, the fewest carries since Week 11 of 2021, with the Giants – six carries on injury.
With the Eagles losing their first game of the season and the storm created by Barkley’s usage, the Giants expect Philly to try to get the running game going again on Thursday night.
“I think everyone expects it,” security guard Tyler Nubin told the New York Post. “When you don’t get your best guy involved and get the result you want, obviously things are going to change. I’m definitely ready for that.”
