Eagles’ Lane Johnson promises vintage Saquon Barkley season in Sean Mannion offense

After turning in arguably the single greatest season by any running back in NFL history in 2024, Saquon Barkley predictably came back to earth in 2025 along with the rest of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Now granted, “coming back to earth” is “only” rushing for 1,140 yards, which is the fourth-best season of Barkley’s career, but after routinely breaking off 30, 40, or even 50-plus yard runs for the Birds in his first season in Midnight Green, things came a whole lot harder for the Madden cover star during his sophomore campaign, recording just three 100-plus yard games versus 11 in 2024.

Has Barkley hit the wall all veteran running backs eventually reach, with his game no longer capable of hitting his record-breaking season? Maybe yes, maybe no, but according to Lane Johnson during the Eagles’ Wednesday practice, fans shouldn’t count out No. 26 just yet, as he sees another 2024-esque season just over the horizon for the 29-year-old.

“The more productive we are in the run game and stuff feeds off that, we’ll see the Saquon from two years ago,” Johnson said via The Athletic’s Zach Berman. “We’ll see the big plays, we’ll see him flex wide at wide receiver, we’ll see him in the screen game.”

While Barkley is entering his ninth NFL season, he’s only appeared in 113 games overall, missing most of 2020 due to injury and appearing in just seven playoff games due to New York’s general inability to get to the postseason for much of his tenure. Even if Barkley has played more football than he has left in front of him, if Johnson still believes the three-time Pro Bowler has tread left on his tires, fans shouldn’t give up hope for another monster campaign just yet.