Will Kellen Moore View Saquon Barkley As A Receiving Back?

One of the major discussion points is that the acquisition of Saquon Barkley means that Kellen Moore will be unleashing him in the receiving game. Many Philadelphia Eagles fans who believe the team hasn't taken advantage of that aspect in the past welcome the idea. Upon further review, I’m not so sure that the impact is going to be quite what fans expect.

In his five seasons as an offensive coordinator, there is a clear pattern as to how often Moore uses his running backs in the passing game.

Over those five seasons, he averaged 74 receptions by running backs for 550 yards. It’s a productive and fairly consistent total.

In his three seasons as an NFL head coach and running “his offense” under Shane Steichen and Brian Johnson, it appears that Eagles fans may have the wrong impression on their head coach.

Over those three seasons, the Eagles have averaged 65 receptions by running backs for 443 yards. It’s important to note that in the Eagles most productive offensive season under Sirianni, they actually threw the ball to running backs the least.

I was one of the many voices praising the Eagles for the acquisition of Saquon Barkley, and I believed they would be very aggressive about getting him involved as a receiver.

The numbers show that Sirianni and Moore have actually had a very similar approach to how often they target running backs. I couldn’t believe these numbers when I saw them. Sometimes we are too close to the situation to realize how other teams approach strategy decisions like these.

I believed that last season, we would have seen a far bigger impact in the passing game from D'Andre Swift than we did. I also had the impression that Moore was a guy who really loved using the backs in his passing game. The truth is those numbers are fairly similar.

I see Barkley as a true game-breaker type running and receiving back. He may get the same amount of targets as Swift and Gainwell got, but he could potentially do so much more with those opportunities. The tandem of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith at wide receiver should also help him grab additional yardage as a pass catching threat.

If Moore sticks to his traditional approach, we should see an enhanced production value of our backs in the passing attack.

Last season’s disappointment has left a bad taste in the mouths of their fans. However, the Philadelphia Eagles have a clean slate and a fresh schedule for the 2024 NFL season.

The disastrous collapse leaves Nick Sirianni in a tough position under a lot of pressure to succeed quickly. Jalen Hurts didn't meet high expectations in 2023. He similarly needs a strong effort to bounce back to put the Eagles back into Super Bowl contention.

The second-place finish should provide them with a narrowly lighter schedule without some of the formidable first-place opponents they played in 2023. Their NFC South opponents didn’t pose the most imposing threats last season. There’s plenty of room for a breakout team to emerge as a division powerhouse, however.

The Eagles will face the AFC North for the first time since the disastrous 2020 season when they went 0-3-1 outside the conference. Two matchups against each NFC East opponent will continue as they have since the NFL realigned its division placements before the 2002 season.

The addition of the 17th game also means an additional game against a second-place team. The Eagles will face Doug Pederson and the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2024.

As the schedule always does, the 2024 slate offers plenty of opportunities for exciting trips to see the Eagles play on the road. They’ll open the season on Friday, Sept. 6 in Sao Paolo, Brazil to continue the NFL’s international expansion.

The brand new opportunity should provide some excitement for traveling Eagles fans looking for a getaway from Philadelphia. Wait until Philly Sports Trips gets a hold of the new schedule. 

The neutral site will count as one of the nine home games for the Eagles, however. They’ll play eight true road games and eight true home games after traveling for nine in 2023.

The Eagles will play their typical home-and-home against their arch-rival in 2024. The NFL has scheduled the Cowboys games late in recent seasons to set up the drama of NFC East competition.

The teams have won seven of the past eight division championships. The Cowboys could become the first repeat NFC East winner since the Eagles in 2003 and 2004.

The Eagles have sustained an impressive stretch of success against the Giants. They always draw a big crowd of fans traveling up the Jersey Turnpike to MetLife Stadium. The two teams split late-season matchups last season.

Washington has been more active with name changes and ownership issues than playoff contention in recent seasons. Despite the repeated close games, the Eagles have actually owned their division rival recently with a 5-1 record under Nick Sirianni.

The Eagles last faced the Falcons at Lincoln Financial Field in 2018. They raised the Super Bowl banner against the same team they beat in the NFC Divisional Round after the 2017 season. Who could forget Julio Jones slipping in the end zone to let a potential game-winning touchdown get away? Philadelphia continued their success against Atlanta with a win in the first game under Nick Sirianni in 2021.

The Panthers finished with the worst record in the NFL in 2023. Bryce Young struggled, but a team with a second-year quarterback is due for improvement. The Eagles will most likely enter the matchup as heavy favorites.

The Eagles will open the 2024 season in Sao Paolo, Brazil. While the league hasn’t announced the opponent, the Browns look like the logical choice based on process of elimination. The fan base has some excitement for an international trip, but the disadvantage of losing a home game does impact NFL seasons.

Jordan Love is the darling of the NFL offseason after a hot streak late in 2023. The Packers will travel to the Linc for the first time since 2022, when the Eagles hammered them with a dominant ground game on the way to a 40-33 victory.

Other notable Eagles-Packers matchups in Philadelphia include a heartbreaker in the NFC Wild Card Round after the 2010 season, the 1960 NFL Championship, and the famous “4th & 26” game.

Doug Pederson will lead the Jaguars into his former home for the second time in three seasons. Trevor Lawrence has developed into a good NFL quarterback, but he still has plenty of room for improvement. The Eagles haven’t lost to Jacksonville since 2006.

No NFL player was alive the last time the Steelers won a game in Philadelphia. Young head coach Nick Sirianni wasn’t either. Mike Tomlin wasn’t either. The year was 1965, and the first Super Bowl came 15 months later.

Road trips to Washington and New York have become an annual tradition for Eagles fans looking to take over a road stadium. Baltimore is another good opportunity. The proximity will create a fun crowd between two teams that don’t face each other often.

Former Philadelphia Special Teams Coach John Harbaugh has Lamar Jackson, selected with a pick originally owned by the Eagles, in Super Bowl contention.

Just hope this game doesn’t end in a tie. The Eagles and Bengals couldn’t decide a winner after overtime periods in 2008 or 2020. Jalen Hurts might finally be able to do what Donovan McNabb and Carson Wentz couldn’t: decide a winner.

The trip to SoFi Stadium has somehow become a recurring takeover for Eagles fans. Plenty of Philadelphians have moved to a transplant city on the opposite coast, and even more will make the trip to see the Eagles and the Rams. The Eagles won 23-14 in Los Angeles in 2023. They’re 3-0 in road matchups against the Rams since the relocation from St. Louis in 2016.

The Eagles have a tough history in New Orleans. Dick Vermeil lost the franchise’s first Super Bowl at the Superdome. A monstrous hit by Sheldon Brown on Reggie Bush wasn’t enough in the NFC Divisional Round after the 2006 season. Alshon Jeffrey blew a devastating opportunity for a comeback 12 years later. Will their fortunes be better during this regular-season matchup?

The Eagles lost at Raymond James Stadium to put the final nail in the coffin on a horrendous finish to last season. They could use the embarrassment as fuel in 2024. Despite the playoff victory, the Bucs don’t look like an imposing threat. The Eagles will probably enter Tampa Bay as road favorites.