Saquon Barkley
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Saquon Barkley feels the Eagles offense is set to bounce back after a disappointing 2025 season.
The Kevin Patullo era is mercifully over in Philadelphia, and superstar Saquon Barkley couldn’t be more excited.
The Philadelphia Eagles running back opened up about Sean Mannion’s offense and why is finds it “refreshing” to play for the 33-year-old former NFL quarterback in the year ahead.
After a record-breaking first season with the Eagles, Barkley regressed in his lone season with Patullo as the offensive coordinator. He still finished with 1,413 yards from scrimmage, which ranked 15th in the NFL, and was 10th in the NFL in rushing yards (1,140).
But Mannion was named Eagles offensive coordinator Jan. 29 after Patullo was let go after their 23-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Jan. 11.
Saquon Barkley is ‘Excited’ to Play in Sean Mannion’s Offense
Barkley is about to enter his third season with the Eagles and his ninth year in the NFL. He just turned 29 on Feb. 9.
So having an offensive coordinator who is a peer of Barkley’s is a unique situation for the superstar vet. But the fact Mannion, who was the Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach the past two years and is only two seasons removed from playing in the NFL, is calling plays is an exciting development.
“I’m super excited about it,” Barkley said on “The Insiders” with Tom Pelissero and Julie Battista. “I’ve had a lot of different coaches and have been a part of a lot of systems. I don’t think I’ve come across a system like this. For me, it’s refreshing.”
Mannion has picked up tips from his playing days, since he was a backup quarterback to Jared Goff with the Los Angeles Rams under wunderkind head coach Sean McVay. He also briefly was in the Minnesota Vikings organization, learning under quarterbacks guru Kevin O’Connell.
Though Barkley said he hasn’t discussed tactics with his new OC, he feels fired up about his opportunity to pick Mannion’s brain.
“You get something new. You get to learn something new,” Barkley said. “As a competitor, you love it. You love the challenge of putting yourself in a new system and doing the things that you do really well and also learning the things you need to improve on.
“I feel like if we are able to have that mindset as an offense and buy into that, I think the sky’s the limit.”
The Offensive Coaches Are ‘Super Smart’ According to Saquon Barkley
Though head coach Nick Sirianni is still in place, Mannion replacing Patullo wasn’t the only switch staff alteration on the Eagles offensive coaching staff — since Mannion got add some of his own people to the staff.
The Eagles added former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard as pass-game coordinator, and Mannion brought Ryan Mahaffey along as run-game coordinator from Green Bay. Chris Kuper took over as offensive-line coach, and former pass-game coordinator Parks Frazier will be Philadelphia’s quarterbacks coach.
Those new additions are going to do big things for the Eagles offense, according to Barkley.
“All the guys that we hired are super smart and competitive,” Barkley said. “They want to be great, and they’re excited with the talent that we have.”
All that’s left for the Eagles players to do is execute.
“I think [if] we buy in to everything that’s new and if we continue to have our standard, I think what we did last year is going to be in the past,” Barkley said. “I know we have the guys that are willing to learn from it. … We have the talent. We have great coaches. Now we just gotta put it all together.”