Every season, it seems like one running back works his way into the conversation around the MVP award, which has been otherwise dominated by quarterbacks since the turn of the millennium. Last year, that RB was Christian McCaffrey. It was Derrick Henry the year prior. In 2024? Philadelphia newcomer Saquon Barkley.

After jumping from one NFC East team (the Giants) to another (the Eagles) in the offseason, the 27-year-old is enjoying the best campaign of his career. He’s recorded six games with 100-plus rush yards this season, already matching the total he compiled with Big Blue between 2020 and 2023. He is averaging career highs in rush yards per game (113.1), yards per carry (5.8) and scrimmage yards per game (134.7). He’s on pace to amass 1,922 rush yards and 2,290 scrimmage yards in 17 games.

That’s spectacular production. It really is. But there is one category in which his numbers are somewhat pedestrian, and it’s a category that running backs usually need to post otherworldly totals in to truly get to the front of the MVP pack: touchdowns. Through 10 games, Barkley has eight rushing touchdowns and two receiving TDs, putting him on pace to finish with 17 scrimmage TDs. That would be seven fewer than the average (24) scored by the last five RBs to win MVP: Adrian Peterson (13, 2012), LaDainian Tomlinson (31, 2006), Shaun Alexander (28, 2005), Marshall Faulk (26, 2000) and Terrell Davis (23, 1998).

To this I say: There is one thing standing between Barkley and that MVP award … his quarterback.

That might feel a little harsh, but hear me out. Each of those five MVP-winning RBs listed above easily paced their teams in scrimmage TDs, but this is not the case for Barkley in Philly, where Jalen Hurts heads the leaderboard, thanks to his 11 rushing touchdowns. And we all know why that is — the Tush Push, a QB sneak that Philly has all but mastered over the last few seasons. According to NFL Research, Barkley has been tackled at the 1- or 2-yard line 12 times this season, most in the NFL, and a majority of the carries on the very next play go to Hurts. On goal-line carries (inside the 3-yard line) this season, Hurts has scored eight touchdowns on 12 attempts, while Barkley has two scores on half as many carries, per Next Gen Stats.

Barkley is certainly not unaware of his lack of goal-line opportunities. His contract even seems to account for it: NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport recently reported that Barkley receives zero dollars in incentives based on touchdowns in the three-year, $37.8 million pact he inked with Philly.

Saquon seems like the ultimate team player. Take Week 6, when he and the Eagles played his former team at MetLife Stadium. Barkley was 13 rush yards away from his single-game career high (189) late in a blowout victory — but as an exchange with head coach Nick Sirianni showed, Barkley was more than OK sitting on the sidelines while letting the backups take over.

I mean, I get it. But come on, Saquon. There are other running backs practically demanding they get the rock near the end zone, based on their usage and success. Enter Houston’s Joe Mixon, who just scored a hat trick of TDs against the Cowboys last week. This season, Mixon has eight goal-line carries to C.J. Stroud‘s one, with the RB scoring on five of those attempts. In Baltimore, quarterback Lamar Jackson — who is an elite runner — doesn’t have a single carry in such situations, leaving that job to Derrick Henry, who has 11, plus a league-leading 13 rushing touchdowns in 2024.

All of this to say, the Eagles wouldn’t be sitting atop the NFC East at 8-2, rolling with the league’s best rushing attack, without Barkley or Hurts. The quarterback’s ability to make positive gains with his legs and get into the end zone when called upon is huge for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. Unfortunately, it could also be the reason his teammate falls short of MVP honors.