LOS ANGELES — Every player that earns his way on to an NFL field is an elite athlete in his own way. So good at some aspect of a role that he is one of the 1,696 on an active roster at any given time during the season.
But then there are the singular athletes, who possess every attribute you hope to find in a prospect and can break out every one of those tricks on the field. And that is the challenge the Rams (5-5) will face on Sunday night when they go up against the Philadelphia Eagles (8-2) and running back Saquon Barkley.
“Most running backs are so simple, like, ‘Oh, he’s fast.’ Alright, so we just to keep his speed locked up,” outside linebacker Jared Verse said. “He likes to bounce (outside), ok, we just gotta keep the edges contained. He’s a downhill running back, alright, let [defensive tackle Bobby Brown III] handle him. But like Saquon is a different beast in its own because he’s fast, and he can bounce, but he’s so patient, too.”
Barkley signed with the Eagles as a free agent this offseason and the fit in the Philadelphia offense has been instant. With 1,137 rushing yards through 10 games, he is on pace to shatter his career high of 1,312, and could even do so with a particularly explosive performance against the Rams. And he’s doing so with efficiency, too, averaging a career-high 5.8 yards per carry.
And with his arrival, the Eagles have become one of the most productive offenses in the NFL, averaging 0.087 estimated points added (EPA) per play on offense and a league-leading 0.050 EPA per play on runs.
“They’re doing a great job of giving him a variety of opportunities and he is surrounded by a bunch of really good players,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said. “They’ve hit their stride and it’s no mistake why they’ve won six games in a row. They’re finding their identity and certainly Saquon is in the middle of a lot of really good stuff that they’re doing.”
Linebacker Omar Speights, who along with Christian Rozeboom figures to do most of the heavy lifting against Barkley, said he’s texted with friends around the league to get a scouting report, which usually amounts to, “He’s a complete back.”
“He’s fast, he can juke, he can be powerful,” Speights said. “That’s the challenge. I’m excited to go out there and get to compete against him, test my abilities.”
For Verse though, as he watches the tape, he keeps coming back to Barkley’s patience.
“That’s probably the thing that’s most frustrating about playing a running back like that,” Verse said, “where he’s not going to hit the open gap immediately if he sees a hint of someone in there. He’s going to wait a little bit, wait a little bit then he’s going to hit for the home run. You have to be so on your P’s and Q’s you can’t let one play take off and be like, ‘Oh, I’ll get him the next.’ It has to be immediate.”
Rookie offensive lineman K.T. Leveston returned to practice on Wednesday for the first time since the former seventh-round pick was placed on injured reserve prior to the start of the regular season, albeit in a walk-through setting.
“He’s been a guy that we were excited about, ended up getting injured, and now we’ll get a chance to see him on the practice field so that’ll be good,” McVay said.
Right tackle Rob Havenstein (ankle) and cornerback Charles Woods (ankle) did not participate in Wednesday’s walk-through. McVay said the pair are making progress and will be monitored as the week progresses in regards to their availability against the Eagles.
