The NFC's two most recent champions punched their ticket to the Super Bowl, in large part, because of the impact their do-it-all running backs had on the team's explosive offenses throughout their respective seasons.
Both the Philadelphia Eagles' signing of star free-agent running back Saquon Barkley last offseason and the 49ers' trade for Christian McCaffrey midway through the 2022 NFL season were vitally important to each team's next Super Bowl run.
However, FS1's Chris Broussard believes Barkley's historic 2024 season with Philadelphia easily eclipses McCaffrey's 2023 season with the 49ers, in which he won Offensive Player of the Year and propelled San Francisco to Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs.
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“Saquon’s gone way beyond Christian McCaffrey… He’s gonna do this for the next few years.”
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) January 27, 2025
Says @Chris_Broussard 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/4ZSNf4sbYB
"You all laughed at me when I said he's going to have a Christian McCaffrey-like impact," Broussard said Tuesday on "First Things First." "He's gone way beyond Christian McCaffrey. And what this shows you, they've always had a great run game ... but you put an elite back behind that offensive line in Philadelphia and this is what you get. And so let's just enjoy it, and he's going to do this for the next few years."
Let's compare the numbers.
In 16 regular-season games with the Eagles in 2024, Barkley recorded 345 carries for a near-NFL-record 2,005 yards (5.8 Y/A) and 13 touchdowns on the ground while recording 33 receptions for 278 yards and two scores through the air for a total of 2,283 all-purpose yards and 15 total touchdowns.
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McCaffrey, in 16 regular-season games for the 49ers in 2023, recorded 272 carries for 1,459 yards (5.4 Y/A) and 14 touchdowns on the ground while recording 67 receptions for 564 yards and seven touchdowns through the air for a total of 2,023 all-purpose yards and 21 total touchdowns.
In second-seeded Philadelphia's first three playoff games this season, with Super Bowl LIX still outstanding, Barkley had a combined 73 touches for 477 all-purpose yards and five total touchdowns. In top-seeded San Francisco's three playoff games last season, including Super Bowl LVIII, McCaffrey had a combined 78 touches for 420 all-purpose yards and five total touchdowns.
While it's fair to say that Barkley has the edge over 2023 McCaffrey in terms of on-field production and even overall impact on their conference-winning teams, the numbers show the two star running backs produced somewhat similarly through 19 games of their respective seasons.