When the Eagles face the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday, it will not only be a a matchup of two of the NFL's best teams, but the two greatest running backs in the sport this season in Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry.
What's crazy is both were free agents last offseason and signed what amount to relatively modest commitments.
After eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans, Henry signed a two-year/$16 million deal with the Ravens, essentially a one-year commitment that Baltimore could get out of after the 2024 season with less than $4 million in dead cap money. Spoiler alert: It's a lot more likely the Ravens will be signing Henry to a new deal this upcoming offseason than trying to find a way out of his contract.
DERRICK HENRY TO THE HOUSE ON THE 1ST PLAY 🤯
87 YARDS TD.
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/PG2LE1xyQs
Barkley spent the first six seasons of his career with the New York Giants, and while it was widely understood that playing on such a poor offense limited him, we perhaps underestimated the extent to which that was the case. Barkley signed a three-year/$37.5 million deal with the Eagles in free agency, and he's performed so well that there's a very real chance Howie Roseman and Philadelphia will be amending that deal in some manner in the offseason.
Entering Sunday's matchup, Barkley is the favorite for the Offensive Player of the Year, with DraftKings listing him at -275 to win the award. Henry is second, with +275 odds. Their numbers are very close currently.
Barkley: 1,392 rushing yards, 27 catches, 257 receiving yards, 12 total touchdowns
Henry: 1,325 rushing yards, 10 catches, 96 yards, 15 total touchdowns
Barkley set a new franchise record with 255 rushing yards last Sunday in a 37-20 win over the Los Angeles Rams. That allowed him to move past Henry for the NFL lead in rushing yards, which is fairly remarkable considering the Ravens haven't yet had their bye week and have played 12 games, as opposed to the 11 for the Eagles. However, despite having played in one less game, Barkley actually has more carries (223) and touches (250) than Henry (221 carries, 231 touches). That speaks to how much the Eagles have leaned on Barkley.
Saquon Barkley has set an Eagles single-game rushing record AND career-high with 255 yards‼️@saquon | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/8spJ32UbFz
Barkley has always been more of a weapon out of the backfield as a receiver than Henry, though the latter has the touchdown advantage. Yes, Barkley loses goal line carries to the tush push and that shouldn't be held against him. It's also true, though, that Henry continues to be a battering ram at the goal line and he's scored 15 touchdowns despite playing with a quarterback in Lamar Jackson who has thrown for 27 touchdowns and rushed for another three.
The real tiebreaker between the two is probably the perception that the Eagles' offense runs through Barkley, even if Jalen Hurts is having a very nice campaign. In Baltimore, Jackson is a two-time NFL MVP, and while Henry has added another layer that may help the Ravens to get over the hump in the postseason, the quarterback is still the star of the show. If anyone on the Eagles is going to win MVP this year, it's going to be Barkley, who now has the third-shortest odds (+475) for the award, behind only Josh Allen (+150) and Jackson (+250).
Off of the momentum of last week's dominant performance that earned him his fourth NFC Offensive Player of the Week nod this season, Barkley definitely has an edge over Henry right now. If the season ended today, the only way Barkley wouldn't be Offensive Player of the Year is if he was voted MVP and OPOY went to Allen or Jackson.
Obviously, the season doesn't end today. Barkley got a boost from a major primetime performance, but Henry will have a chance to change the narrative in a nationally televised 4:25 game this week. Given his reputation for 200+ yard rushing performances in December, it would be a mistake to start engraving any awards for Barkley. Henry will have something to say about it, perhaps as soon as Sunday. It should be fun to watch.
