Tiki Barber plies his trade in New York City, so of course, when he visited Ike, Spike, & Fritz Thursday, the guys had to ask him about the Juan Soto free agency mania…but the meat of Tiki’s visit to the show was for the Backs for Barkley campaign, and Tiki’s thoughts on Saquon as the NFL’s MVP.
First things first, though, the former Giants great says he has cleared the air with the recent ex-Giant after that whole ‘he’s dead to me’ quip this summer.
“We did one of their games (for CBS), so we sat in a room, and it was fine,” Tiki revealed. “Saquon reacted to the radio bit, which you can never do, because you’re creating one-day stories and things that create a reaction. It’s never personal, at least it shouldn’t be, and for me it’s definitely not, because I have the privilege of knowing the people I’m talking about. Some people can scream and yell whatever, and they have the luxury of not having a personal relationship with someone; that’s not the case with me, so I take it seriously to be entertaining, but not also take myself or my opinion that seriously.”
Okay, so on to Backs For Barkley – Saquon is the second favorite for NFL MVP right now, but in Tiki’s mind, No. 26 is No. 1.
“Saquon Barkley is the MVP of the NFL. I think it’s close, obviously, because you’re starting to see Josh Allen become this favorite, but when I think of what Saquon has brought to the Eagles…a year ago, we wanted to fire Nick Sirianni, and it’s kind of gone away because they’ve been so dominant, and they’ve been so dominant because Saquon is a difference-maker,” Tiki said. “I don’t think running backs will ever get back to that platform of a generation before, but when you have one who has been as great as Saquon has been this year, you can’t ignore him. I appreciate the hell out of Saquon, because he’s awesome to watch.”
Tiki looked back at Todd Gurley’s ridiculous 2017 season, when he was the Offensive Player of the Year but Tom Brady won the MVP ‘because it’s a quarterback award’ (oh, yeah, Carson Wentz was third and his team won a certain game against Brady…) as the last time a back was this good, but with four games to go, Saquon is less than 350 all-purpose yards behind Gurley’s total that year, and his 13 total TD are a handful behind Gurley’s 19 – on a team where the QB also has double-digit rushing scores.
Hopefully, Josh Allen doesn’t do to Saquon what Brady did to Gurley.
“I remember thinking about how unfair that was to Gurley; just because Tom’s a great QB on a great team doesn’t mean he automatically deserved this award,” Tiki said. “Saquon is going to run for maybe 2,200 yards this year, and how many 30, 40, 50-yard runs have we seen from him? It’s rare, and this year, of all years, he deserves to be the MVP of the NFL.”
Regardless of what happens, Tiki loves how a running back is back in the convo, and veteran backs are having terrific seasons around the league.
“I hate the narrative around the position, but I love that Saquon, and Derrick Henry, and Joe Mixon and Josh Jacobs are doing this – everyone who went and got a veteran free agent running back, they’re thriving,” Tiki said. “I love that, because it doesn’t mean the position is dead just because you’re not with your mama, the team that drafted you. They say nobody loves you like your mama, but with running backs, it takes a little development; you become a star and know it, and someone else really appreciates that, and brings you in and utilizes you the right way.”
And that’s where Tiki took a little umbrage with his and Saquon’s former team.
“With the Giants last year, it was all inside zone and duo runs, just run downhill and try to find something,” Tiki said. “This year with the Eagles, they have gap scheme, and tosses, and split zones where the tight end goes one way and the offensive line is blocking the other, and it allows Saquon to be patient, find a hole, and use his athleticism to make plays. He’s in a better place, and this is why we got frustrated with Saquon – we knew he was going to be amazing and the player we wanted, we just couldn’t produce it for him. We saw his rookie season he had this explosiveness and there was a creative nature to the play-calling, but three head coaches and multiple coordinators later, the innovation for the run game just disappeared. Now, the Eagles are doing the game plan we used to do!”