Did Saquon Barkley Break the Eagles' Passing Game? The Numbers Say Yes
Since Saquon Barkley arrived in Philadelphia, Jalen Hurts' passing yards dropped from 3,700 to 2,900 and AJ Brown's targets fell from 158 to 97. Was the Super Bowl worth the long-term offensive regression?
The JAKIB Staff
contributor
Here are the numbers that should concern every Eagles fan: In 2022 and 2023, Jalen Hurts threw for 3,700 and 3,800 yards respectively. Since Saquon Barkley arrived, that number has cratered to 2,900. AJ Brown went from 158 targets to 97 in the first year with Barkley, and while the targets ticked back up to 121 last season, the production never recovered.
Short-Term Gain, Long-Term Pain?
The counter-argument writes itself: they won a Super Bowl. And that's true. The run-first identity that Barkley enabled was the engine of the 2024 championship run. But there's a real question about whether that approach stunted the development of the passing game to the point where the Eagles can't get it back.
"If you don't use it, you're going to lose it." That assessment of Hurts' passing regression isn't wrong. The Eagles spent two seasons treating the passing game as a secondary weapon, and now the quarterback who once looked like a legitimate MVP candidate hasn't thrown for 3,000 yards since.
The Barkley Regression
There's a second layer to this problem. The 2025 Saquon Barkley wasn't the 2024 version. The historic 2,000-yard season was always going to be difficult to replicate, but the decline was steeper than expected. Wear and tear, touches, age — pick your explanation. The question every Eagles fan should be asking: was the Super Bowl season the peak, and is the decline already underway?
If Barkley can't carry the offense the way he did in 2024, and the passing game has atrophied from two years of neglect, the Eagles are stuck in no-man's land — not good enough to run their way to another title, not dynamic enough to throw their way there either.
The Path Forward
The hire of Sean Mannion as offensive coordinator signals a desire to rebalance. But rebalancing an offense that has leaned this heavily on the run for two years doesn't happen overnight — especially with a first-time play-caller. The offensive line injuries to Cam Jurgens, Landon Dickerson, and Lane Johnson last season masked some of these issues. A healthy line could paper over the passing game problems. But it won't solve them.
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