Copyright phillyvoice
Saquon Barkley's 2024 season was one for the ages. For those who need a recap, Barkley not only led the NFL in rushing attempts and yards, going for 2,005 yards on 345 carries, but also averaged an NFL-best 125.3 rushing yards per game, amassed an NFL-most 2,283 yards from scrimmage, and posted the highest yards-per-carry average (5.9) in Eagles history. Because the Eagles rested him for a meaningless Week 18 game against the Giants, Barkley fell 100 yards shy of Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record (2,105). But with an additional 499 rushing yards in the postseason, Barkley became the NFL's record-holder for the most combined rushing yards in the regular season and postseason. He won a Super Bowl. He was named the NFL's Offensive Player of The Year. He appeared on the cover of "Madden NFL 26." He won an ESPY. He was named the league's No. 1 overall player by his peers. It was indeed a unicorn season for an NFL running back – until Jonathan Taylor and 2025 came along. If you haven't noticed, the Colts' running back through eight weeks is matching Barkley's 2024 output – and in some cases, exceeding it. At his current pace, the South Jersey native could actually threaten to make Barkley's season less of a unicorn. Taylor, a two-time Pro Bowler, is slightly behind Barkley's rushing total through eight weeks last season, but he has more receiving yards, nearly as many total yards from scrimmage, and twice as many rushing touchdowns while averaging the exact same yards per carry. Here's how their seasons compare through eight games: Can Taylor keep up this pace and threaten to have an even more productive season than Barkley's 2024? Like Barkley, Taylor has battled injuries during his career, so staying healthy will be key. Also like Barkley, the Colts have an impressive offensive line that does the dirty work for Taylor's yards. Per pro-football-reference, Taylor has an NFL-leading 435 rushing yards before contact, at an average of 3.0 YBC per carry, which ranks third. Last year, Barkley averaged 3.8 yards before contact for the season, which was tops in the league. Taylor also has an NFL-most 415 yards after contact at 2.9 yards per carry. Last year, Barkley averaged 2.0 yards after contact. Also like Barkley, this isn't Taylor's first flirtation with a record-breaking season. Barkley went over 2,000 yards from scrimmage in his rookie season with the Giants. In 2021, Taylor played 17 games – the only year he's played a full season – and led the NFL with 1,811 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns on 332 carries while amassing 2,171 yards from scrimmage – not far off from Barkley's 2,283 last year. The schedule could also factor into Taylor's chances of one-upping Barkley. In their final nine games, the Colts will face a top-10 rushing defense five times – No. 1 Seattle, No. 5 Houston (twice), and No. 6 Jacksonville (twice). In their four other games, Taylor will run against No. 14 Pittsburgh, No. 15 Kansas City, No. 16 San Francisco and No. 17 Atlanta. Taylor might have to go big against those four teams ranked outside the top 10 in run defense or have better-than-average games against the top-10 defenses. Two of Taylor's four 100-yard rushing efforts this season have come against No. 28 Tennessee, and the other two came against 13th-ranked Denver and 7th-ranked Arizona. SIGN UP HERE to receive PhillyVoice's Sports newsletters. Follow Geoff on Twitter/X: @geoffpmosher
