Saquon Barkley is barely 100 yards away from the rushing record
Saquon Barkley is only 101 yards away from breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards, which he set with the Rams in 1984. It is one of the few NFL records that actually feels like it matters, but Barkley says that it isn’t that important to him.
After rushing for 167 yards against the Cowboys on Sunday, putting him at 2,005 rushing yards on the season, Barkley said that he doesn’t care if the team decides to rest him in Week 18. “I didn’t sign here just to break records,” said Barkley. That’s music to Dickerson’s ears.
#Eagles RB Saquon Barkley on whether he wants to chase Eric Dickerson’s record next week: “I’m not overtly trying to get it. I’m not scared of it. But we’ve got bigger things we’re focused on. Whether we play next week or rest, I’m fine with that. I didn’t sign here just to break… pic.twitter.com/NLydYyZk7c
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) December 29, 2024
Before the game, Dickerson said “Absolutely not” when it came to whether or not he wanted Barkley to break his record, adding that he didn’t think Barkley would be able to do it.
He probably doesn’t think that anymore. If Barkley plays against the Giants in Week 18, he will almost certainly break the record if he gets more than 15 carries, based on how he’s played this season.
Strangely, Dickerson did bring up the fact that Barkley had 17 games to break the record. I don’t know why he would do that since he set the record by breaking O.J. Simpson’s record, which was done during the 14-game season era. Similarly, Puka Nacua holds the rookie receiving yardage record, a fact nobody complains about being done in 17 games despite former record holder Bill Groman doing it in 14 games.
Barkley is the ninth player to go over 2,000 rushing yards in a season.