Saquon Barkley Taking ‘Smarter’ Approach Amid Workload Concerns

Saquon Barkley was arguably the best player in the league last season. He even came close to breaking a decades-old rushing record. All while helping the Eagles hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

But with those great heights comes the risk of a great fall. History is not exactly kind to RBs as they age, especially not to RBs with high workloads like Barkley. He carried the ball a staggering 345 times. Barkley is well aware of those concerns, though, and is taking a "smarter' approach to how he prepares for the season.

"Everyone I trust told me basically to sit my ass down for a little bit," Saquon Barkley said, via Tim McManus of of ESPN. "You've just got to be smarter, right? You have your moments where you go in there and you grind, you push it. But the majority of those days is just mobility, conditioning, doing all the things to get your body in shape to perform at a high level. It was a lot of workload [last year], but my body feels great, so that's the most important thing."

Just last year, we saw 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey go through a similar situation. CMC was coming off a career year. He helped carry his team to the Super Bowl, though the 49ers lost, unlike the Eagles. And like Barkley, it was also a career high in carries for one season.

Things did not go well for McCaffrey. He played in just 4 games. From the very start, nagging injuries plagued his season. An achilles injury caused him to miss the start of the season. When he eventually returned, it was not long until a PCL injury ended his season. The exact outcome Barkley is looking to avoid.

Like McCaffrey, Barkley has a not-so-great history with injuries. His injury history is not quite so bad, but he certainly had his share of problems with the Giants. With the Eagles, even while his workload went up, he stayed healthy.

The O-Line keeping him clean helped. He led all RBs with 3.8 yards before contact. But he still took a lot of hits. Keeping Saquon Barkley healthy and effective is a huge priority for the Eagles.

Barkley seems to know what he is doing. mainly, taking it a bit easier than he is used to. Will this approach pay off? We won't know until the games start. At the very least, it is something Saquon Barkley and the Eagles are keenly aware of, and they have a plan to prevent the workload from hurting him.