The Philadelphia Eagles return from their Week 9 bye preparing for a Monday night showdown with the Green Bay Packers. Saquon Barkley left the Eagles’ last game two weeks ago with a groin injury. Will fantasy football managers have their elite running back available for this primetime matchup?
Saquon Barkley Injury Update
The Eagles last played two weeks ago against the New York Giants. In that game, Barkley left early with a groin injury that raised immediate concerns about his availability. However, the injury was downplayed after the game by both Barkley and the coaching staff.
The initial assessment indicated the groin issue was believed to be minor. Based on the early reports and team commentary, the expectation was that Barkley would use the bye week to rest up and be ready to go when the team returned in Week 10.
That looks to be on track to happen. Barkley was at practice on Thursday for the Eagles’ first session of the week ahead of their Monday night game against the Packers. His presence at practice represents a significant positive development for both Philadelphia and fantasy managers who’ve been waiting for clarity on his status.
Barkley got in a full practice. That suggests he is completely over the injury.
The bye week provided exactly what he needed – time for the injury to heal without missing any game action.
Philadelphia has no incentive to rush Barkley back if there were any concerns about re-aggravation. The Eagles are in a strong position and can afford to be cautious with their star running back. His Thursday practice participation indicates the medical staff and coaching staff are confident in his health.
Fantasy managers should feel comfortable locking Barkley into their lineups for Monday night. Barring any unexpected setback Friday or over the weekend, he’ll be on the field and likely handling his usual workload as the Eagles’ featured back.
Barkley Fantasy Outlook
A splash play?
Multiple scores?
Who is this and what has he done with the disappointing version of Barkley that I had come to terms with?
Philly’s lead back decimated the Giants prior to the bye, and it only seemed like a matter of time: players this talented with this skill set can only be contained for so long.
But is he back?
Well, it depends what “back” means to you.
Last season was historic for a reason: stretches like that don’t happen often. So if you’re asking me if he is back to that form, my answer is going to be no.
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And it would be “no” if he posted an identical stat line this week as what he did in Week 8. That said, the advanced profile from the breakout looks just as good, if not better, than the raw stat line, and that is why I’m ranking Barkley as a top-5 option at the position this week, even in a difficult matchup on Monday night.
During the first seven weeks this season, 57.5% of Barkley’s carries saw him gain more yards after contact than the league RB average. That was down from 64.3% a season ago and is a bit of a chicken-and-egg metric.
If an offensive line blocks better, the running back can get running downhill and pick up more YAC. But not every play is going to be blocked well, and the ability to excel in those spots is predictive of future success.
That’s why I like this stat. The 65-yard touchdown was an untouched run, and that can skew stats for an entire season in terms of blocking numbers, and the 0 YAC makes that a negative play in the after-contact stats.
By making it a rate stat, we get a zero or a one for every attempt: no one carry is weighed more than any other, thus making it a little more predictive in my eyes.
The Week 8 rate of Barkley was 71.4%.
This is a fresh Eagles offense, and that’s something that we’ve seen thrive in the past. The Packers haven’t played much in the way of power run games over the past month-plus, so I’m not overindexing their season-long stats: they are impressive, but not overly predictive in this specific spot.
I’d be shocked if Barkley scored multiple times in this game, but I’d be just as surprised if he finishes the week outside the top 15.
You can disagree with my optimism if you want to, but moving him down the ranks a touch isn’t making an actionable difference: you’re playing him.
— PFSN Fantasy Analyst Kyle Soppe
