Before the Philadelphia Eagles began the first phase of the offseason workout program, Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley had a head start on their first season together. Hurts and Barkley were training together this offseason in preparation for the year.
First impressions of Barkley stayed with Hurts.
“I think he’s a heck of a player. He’s on this side now so it’s cool,” Hurts said at the NovaCare Complex this week, via the Eagles. “Even in the short time we have OTAs, you hear about the type of person he is, the type of leader he is in the room, the energy he brings to the room. It’s something you can enjoy.
“It’s something I already enjoy. Just competing in sprints or competing on the squat rack or doing things like that, where we challenge each other. Those are the things that set the thermostat of what the team is supposed to follow.”
Hurts has played with a 1,000-yard running back in two of the three seasons he’s been the Eagles’ starter, Miles Sanders in 2022 and D’Andre Swift in 2023. Barkley should be the best of the bunch, based on his level of talent. and what the Eagles pay him.
Barkley is coming off a season in which he was the best player on a bad offense, throwing for 962 yards and six touchdowns (3.9 yards per carry) behind the worst offensive line in the NFL. He finished with 1,242 yards from scrimmage in 2023, up from 1,650 the year before (he played in just 14 games compared to 16 in 2022).
Barkley was one of the best running backs in New York Giants history, ranking fourth all-time in rushing yards (5,211) and seventh in scrimmage yards (7,311). He and Tiki Barber are the only two players in franchise history with more than 5,000 rushing yards and more than 2,000 receiving yards, and Barkley was the fastest player in Giants history to rush 5,000 yards (70 games). His 35 100-yard scrimmage games in a Giants uniform trailed only Barber.
It was behind the Giants offensive line. Barkley will run behind the Eagles offensive line and team up with Hurts, AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert at the skill positions.
The stage is set for a big year and Barkley is doing everything he can to make sure it comes to fruition.
“I know firsthand and in the short term what type of mentality he has,” Hurts said. “We’re going to continue to expand on what that looks like for all of us together. We have a ton of opportunities in front of us but I think the most important thing is the mentality of the people in the building.
“You want people to have a sense of culture of themselves, a mentality of themselves and I think that’s exactly what we do.”