When you think of great three-down backs in Eagles history, Brian Westbrook is probably one of the first to come to mind – so is he all in on the ‘Backs for Barkley’ train pushing for Saquon to win the MVP?
“He is the true MVP; maybe I’m too invested as a running back, or in Philadelphia, but there’s no doubt in my mind he should win it. When you talk about having the best season in the NFL, Saquon is having that, especially if he gets that rushing title,” Westbrook told Tom Kelly and Hugh Douglas Thursday. “The only other person that I could consider at this point is maybe Josh Allen, but there's no other position player in the NFL having the impact that Saquon is having. He's doing special things this year, and that’s the definition of MVP, doing special things and helping your team to win. When you talk about MVP candidates, you talk about people that make the difference in their team, they're so valuable that the team would have a hard time winning without that person. It’s just hard for me to think about anyone other than Saquon Barkley when you mention those types of things.”
Saquon is, indeed, something special.
“Just think about running backs that we've seen; we've seen power backs that just are big and powerful and strong and they run down and mow over people, and we've seen smaller guys like myself, scat type of backs that can do multiple things but really, their size and their quickness is what truly gets them to the next level and allows them to be explosive and make plays, and we've also seen speed guys that can just get to the edge and run away from people,” Westbrook said. “What makes Saquon so special is that he has all of those things in one package, and he could catch the ball out of the backfield. When you have a guy that can do all those things and he's just a great person as well, you're talking about the best of all worlds.”
As you might expect, 36 has been watching 26 his whole career, but what he’s seen since Saquon came to Philly this year is much different, in a good way, from what he saw in New York.
“I saw Saquon early on in his career where he was just using his speed to get to the edge, and it was just raw speed, getting to the edge and doing certain things – and then what I saw this year is that he was making people miss in the hole,” Westbrook said. “Plays where he was dead to rights with the linebacker lining him up between the tackle and guard and he's just making people miss in a phone booth – that’s special. It takes a special running back to be able to do that. And, we all understand what he was able to do when he jumped backwards over someone, which was a crazy thing to do, but he also has the ability to run away from people, and we've seen that, too. I didn't know that he still had that ability until really recently, but he's just running away from people, which makes him certainly special.”
And the best part is that he’s a complete back, seemingly a rarity in today’s NFL, and can do it all on all three downs the same way Westbrook did.
“It was important to me that I wanted the team to feel like there was a void, something was missing when I wasn't on the field; whether they needed me to block and stop somebody, I needed to be able to block that guy, or catch a ball in the flat or run a route or run the ball, I wanted the team to feel like they were missing something when I wasn't out there,” Westbrook said. “When you look at it, this team is missing something when Saquon is not out there, and it’s truly a different type of game when Saquon is out there.”
What is it that is so different?
“Now you can't have eight men in the box, because you have to defend – and typically speaking, you would have that same situation with AJ Brown because he's so dominant and so explosive with the ball in his hands,” Westbrook said. “But now teams are saying we have to be cognizant of Saquon, and put eight or nine in the box and be able to win there, so when Jalen stands up to throw the ball to Dallas Goedert or tries to throw that slant to AJ Brown, it’s one-on-one with the defender. AJ Brown will win that matchup 10 out of 10 times, and DeVonta Smith will do a great job against those matchups when healthy 10 out of 10 times, so Saquon’s impact on the entire field has been tremendous. It’s hard to think about another guy that has that type of impact across the NFL.”
And if the rushing record is in sight come Week 17 or 18, but the Eagles have the division and maybe their seed locked up?
“I’m not sure what Saquon would want, but personally, I would want it for myself, but also for my offensive line. That means a lot to an offensive line,” Westbrook said. “I’ve talked to guys that were part of Eric Dickerson's record-setting year, and the offensive line was just as proud of that year as Eric was, and I’ve talked to guys that blocked for Emmitt Smith and they’re just as proud of what Emmitt was able to accomplish. I see on every long run that AJ Brown, an All-Pro wide receiver, is out there blocking, and Goedert and Smith, so obviously, they care about it too. So, if you have an opportunity to go after that record, I certainly would want to; I know the question is always do you want the record or are you more concerned with being healthy – but I think especially if you get that one seed, you have a week off, so you'll have some time to get healthy and have some rest as well. But if I'm close enough to that record, that's a milestone, a statement for your career. I certainly would go after it.”
Listen to Westbrook’s entire visit above, as he goes a little further on the Eagles and their future!