Saquon Barkley ran for north of 2,000 yards in his first season with the Birds, but everything touching this offense came with friction in 2025. The big plays dried up, the efficiency dipped across the board, and the vibes were a disaster.
Should You Draft Saquon Barkley in Fantasy Football?
I think you should. It depends on your expectations. If you think Barkley is running for 2,000 yards like he did in 2024, then no, you pass. But if you think that’s going to be the case, you’d have to draft him first overall, and that’s not going to happen here.
He’s going in the late first round or early second round in drafts, and I think that’s about right. I do think you see him build on last season a little bit. If we’re looking at a floor that’s roughly 1,200 yards and flirting with double-digit touchdowns, to me that’s hard to find outside of the first three, four, five picks in the draft.
Barkley is the focal point of this offense. Teams don’t get rid of A.J. Brown if the intent is to pass the ball more. This is going to be a Barkley offense that we think is going to be above average, in a division that’s going to require scoring, for a team that we think could win a dozen games. The game scripts are going to be in his favor more often than not. We know he can catch the ball if that’s what’s asked of him, and that very well could be the case with Brown moving out and everybody else moving up the target hierarchy.
It’s an age-29 season, so there’s a little bit of a cliff to fear here, and maybe we saw glimpses of that last season. Let your competition make that mistake. I don’t think we’re looking at a guy that’s falling off a cliff. He was coming off a high-usage season. That is what it is. It’s not that last season was light usage. He’s still got wear and tear. I get all of that, but the juice is worth the squeeze here.
I think Tank Bigsby is a viable second option, and I would draft him late in drafts, but he’s not going to take food off the plate here. I think you’re looking at 17 to 20 touches on a weekly basis. We saw him hold that volume steady throughout last season when he was on the field. In his last 5 games, including the playoffs, he had at least 19 carries.
If you’re telling me we get Barkley with that kind of volume late in the season when all the money’s in the middle of the table, I’m telling you, you’ve got a chance to win it all. That’s why we play this game. Barkley in the early second round as part of an RB-RB build is a common click for me. I’m good with that. I think you should be, too. Barkley 2026: better than 25, not quite what he was in 2024.
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Saquon Barkley’s Week 1 Fantasy Outlook
Jalen Hurts played in one game against the Commanders last season, and the offense had no issues whatsoever in picking apart this defense in that game.
Not only did they score 29 points, but all of the usual suspects ate in a major way. A.J. Brown caught 9 balls with a 41.4% target share, DeVonta Smith scored, Dallas Goedert scored, and Barkley ran for 132 yards with a TD of his own.
I don’t expect the defense to be much better this year, and with one fewer mouth to feed, that simply puts more advantageous usage on the plates of the remaining parties. That Week 16 win in Washington was Barkley’s only game with 15+ carries in which he picked up 5+ yards on the majority of his carries, and that’s when you want to pay up for him in a DFS setting.
The home-run play potential is always there, but if the status quo is a handful of yards, that’s how we assess ceiling games. Barkley ran for a score in three of four games last September and finished the month with 14 receptions; if he’s fantasy’s RB1 after one week of action, I wouldn’t be the least bit shocked.
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Where Barkley Ranks Among 2026 Running Backs
- Jahmyr Gibbs | DET
- Bijan Robinson | ATL
- Jonathan Taylor | IND
- James Cook III | BUF
- Christian McCaffrey | SF
- Saquon Barkley | PHI
- Chase Brown | CIN
- Derrick Henry | BAL
- De'Von Achane | MIA
- Kenneth Walker III | KC
- Omarion Hampton | LAC
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