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And yet a lot would have to come together to push Barkley to the top of the MVP race. The Eagles (9-2) would probably have to pass the Detroit Lions (10-1) in the NFC, with Barkley still clearly the best player. The quarterbacks ranked ahead of him, Josh Allen (Bills) and Lamar Jackson (Ravens), would have to put up with several weak games – and breaking Eric Dickerson’s all-time record from 1984 would of course also help. In this respect it is not “impossible”.
But it is also a fact that the majority of journalists eligible to vote would still vote for a quarterback if there was any doubt. Even if it’s “boring” now, Barkley might be a more exciting story after his departure from the Giants in the offseason and a great season so far. QBs are by far the most important players in the NFL and are therefore “more valuable” per se. The running backs live even more from the O-line blocking in front of them and cannot influence a game as consistently as much as the man in each Play has the football in his hand.
Barkley knows that too: “The guys here are incredible, they make my job easier. I’ll probably get a lot of compliments and stuff, but in reality it’s a team sport and that’s the beauty of it.” And further: “If you look at my plays today, you see so many players sacrificing themselves for me.” Of course, this also applies to the quarterbacks, but Barkley will also be able to get past Allen AND Jackson with the help of the Eagles’ fearsome O-line.
What you can’t give him, and Derrick Henry in Baltimore, too, credit enough: They have shown that the “franchise backs” are not yet extinct and that an elite running back still makes an enormous difference can make out. Quarterbacks have now broken the $60 million mark per year, and Barkley only had $26 million guaranteed in a three-year contract in the offseason. Henry was paid $9 million guaranteed for one year after many dominant years with the Tennessee Tians.
In all likelihood, the duo won’t be able to get more than the Offensive Player of the Year award. But being able to console yourself with the fact that you have brought an entire position out of the shadows is not something to be despised.
