Sports
How Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles Resurrected the Running Back Position
It turns out the reports of the death of the dominant running back in the NFL were greatly exaggerated.
There have been many “hot takes” in the last few years about backs being devalued in the NFL. And it’s true that, in general, offenses are more pass-heavy than ever before and that the realities of the salary cap can make it more prudent not to invest high first-round picks and exceptionally lucrative contracts on running backs.
Additionally, finding the best value at running back and saving dollars that can be spread around to other positions can be a wise approach.
But there are exceptions.
The Philadelphia Eagles understood this—and it’s the primary reason they’re in Super Bowl LIX and facing the Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday in the Caesars Superdome.
Eagles CEO Jeffrey Lurie, general manager Howie Roseman, head coach Nick Sirianni and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore knew Saquon Barkley was exceptional after watching him excel for six seasons with the NFC East rival Giants.
Lurie explained the Eagles’ thought process shortly after they signed the former Giant to a three-year, $37.75 million contract last offseason.
“We’re always looking for inefficiencies in the marketplace,” Lurie said at an owners meeting last March. “And if we think the league is overvaluing the position or undervaluing a position, we will try our best … (to) take advantage of those inefficiencies.”
Running backs clearly were being undervalued, and the Eagles saw the value in a rare running back such as Barkley, who rushed for 2,005 yards this season, the eighth most in a single season in NFL history. He finished 100 yards short of Eric Dickerson’s record despite sitting out the final game of the season because Philadelphia was locked into the No. 2 seed in the NFC.
It was the first 2,000-yard season in the NFL since Derrick Henry had 2,027 for the Titans in 2020, which was the only other 2,000-yard season since 2013.
Barkley reversed a trend that had seen the standard for individual rushing yards drop consistently after Henry’s milestone season. The subsequent league leaders—Jonathan Taylor (1,811 in 2021), Josh Jacobs (1,653 in 2022) and Christian McCaffrey (1,459 in 2023)—gained an average of nearly 200 fewer yards than their most immediate predecessors even though their seasons atop the rushing leaders coincided with the expansion to a 17-game season.
Philadelphia leaned more heavily on Barkley during the stretch run. He averaged nearly 25 carries per game in the last seven games he played in during the regular season after averaging nearly 19 in the previous nine.
After finishing with a relatively pedestrian 119 rushing yards and no touchdowns in a wild-card win against the Packers, Barkley had 205 rushing yards and two touchdowns in a divisional-round win against the Rams and 118 yards and three touchdowns in the NFC Championship win over the Commanders.
He has an NFL-record three 60-plus-yard touchdown runs in the last two games. If he has another touchdown run of 60 or more yards against the Chiefs, he’ll become the first player in NFL history to have a 60-plus-yard touchdown run in three consecutive games.
Barkley is winning back respect for running backs.
The last 11 NFL Most Valuable Player awards have been won by quarterbacks, and no one would be surprised if Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen were to make it 12 straight, but Barkley has been widely discussed as a strong candidate. That alone is a pretty significant accomplishment in 2024-2025.
A running back hasn’t won the Super Bowl MVP award since the Broncos’ Terrell Davis did it 27 years ago. Since then, five wide receivers, three linebackers and one cornerback have won the award.
If Philadelphia were to win the Super Bowl, the odds are pretty good that Barkley would win the MVP award for that game.
But regardless of any individual awards that might be forthcoming, Barkley and the Eagles have already shown just how valuable a running back still can be.
You’ve just got to find the right one—like Philadelphia did.
Sports
Marlins' solid pitching, hitting too much for Cardinals
Apr 22, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Marlins center fielder Jakob Marsee (87) steals second base against St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Thomas Saggese (25) during the fourth inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Janson Junk allowed just one hit and a walk over five innings, and Jakob Marsee drove in a pair as the Miami Marlins beat the visiting St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 on Wednesday to claim the deciding contest of their three-game series.
Junk (1-2) pitched efficiently, needing just 56 pitches to go five. He struck out two and only gave up a single to Pedro Pages in the third and a fifth-inning bases on balls to Nathan Church as the right-hander posted his first victory since Aug. 6, 2025.
Javier Sanoja had his third three-hit game of the season, getting three singles in four at-bats to lead a 12-hit attack, all singles, for the Marlins. Augustin Ramirez went 2-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and an RBI, and Heriberto Ramirez enjoyed a 2-for-4 day with a run scored.
Miami jumped ahead thanks to a two-run second inning. Liam Hicks started the frame with a leadoff single off Kyle Leahy (2-3), and Ramirez followed with another hit. After Hernandez forced Hicks at third, Owen Caissie singled home Ramirez.
Leo Jimenez took first, getting hit by a pitch to load the bases. Sanoja popped out, but Marsee added to the Marlins’ lead by drawing a walk.
Marsee made it 3-0 in the fourth when his one-out single brought home Jimenez. In the next inning, Ramirez’s second hit of the game scored Otto Lopez.
Leahy gave up eight hits and walked three over five innings. All four runs he allowed were earned as the right-hander struck out a pair.
It stayed 4-0 until the top of the ninth. Ivan Herrera welcomed Lake Bachar with a home run, his third of the season, and Nolan Gorman walked. Bachar did get Ramon Urias to pop out before right-hander Pete Fairbanks came in to get Jose Fermin on a warning-track flyout to left fielder Hernandez and struck out Church swinging to earn his fifth save.
Andrew Nardi, Anthony Bender and Michael Petersen combined for three scoreless innings in relief for the Marlins. They gave up just two hits and struck out six.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Athletics place OF Denzel Clarke (foot) on 10-day injured list
Apr 17, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics center fielder Denzel Clarke (1) attempts to catch the ball during the first inning of the game against the Chicago White Sox at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images The Athletics placed outfielder Denzel Clarke on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday due to a bone bruise in his right foot.
In a corresponding move, the Athletics recalled outfielder Colby Thomas from Triple-A Las Vegas.
Clarke, 25, last played on Monday as a defensive placement in center field in the eighth inning of a 6-4 road victory over the Seattle Mariners.
A native of Canada, Clarke is batting .170 (9-for-53) with six RBIs and two stolen bases in 22 games. He has struck out 24 times and walked four times.
Last season as a rookie, Clarke hit .230 with a .274 on-base percentage, three home runs, eight RBIs, eight doubles, two triples, six steals, six walks and 61 strikeouts in 47 games.
The Athletics selected Clarke in the fourth round of the 2021 MLB Draft.
Thomas, 25, made his major league debut in 2025 and hit .225 (27-for-120) with six homers and 19 RBIs in 49 games. He hit .309 with five homers and 19 RBIs in 17 games for Las Vegas this season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Record 216 WNBA games to be broadcast nationally this season
Aug 31, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; A Wilson EVO Nxt WNBA basketball on the court at the Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images A record 216 WNBA games and tentpole events for the upcoming 2026 season will be broadcast on national television.
The league announced its full slate of nationally televised games for the first year of its new media rights deal on Wednesday. It includes games being broadcast by returning partners in the Walt Disney Company (ABC/ESPN), Amazon Prime Video, CBS/Paramount+ and Scripps (ION).
New television/streaming partners for the 2026 season are NBCUniversal (NBC/Peacock/NBCSN) and USA Network.
With two new expansion teams starting play in the upcoming season, the league will put on a record 330 regular-season games, with all 15 teams playing 44 games.
Disney will distribute 30 games this year for the league’s milestone 30th season. ABC will broadcast 13 of those — tied for its most ever — including a season-opening doubleheader May 9 which will see the Indiana Fever face the Dallas Wings and the defending champion Las Vegas Aces face the Phoenix Mercury in a rematch of last year’s WNBA Finals.
Amazon Prime will also broadcast 30 regular-season games for 30 years of the league’s existence, along with the championship game of the Commissioner’s Cup tournament.
NBC, which broadcast the first WNBA game in 1997, is back as a media partner this season and will broadcast seven Sunday games throughout the season. Peacock, in addition to streaming regular-season games, will stream every WNBA Finals game, which will also be broadcast on either NBC or USA.
USA will broadcast 48 regular-season games, trailing only ION, which will broadcast 50 games through its “State Farm WNBA Friday Night Spotlight” series.
After broadcasting the first primetime broadcast television WNBA game last season, CBS will air eight primetime games this season.
NBA TV, which is in its 24th year distributing WNBA games, has a 15-game slate it will be broadcasting.
WNBA League Pass will deliver select live games throughout the season (local blackouts may apply), along with next-day access to every matchup through the WNBA app or at WNBA.com.
–Field Level Media
Marlins' solid pitching, hitting too much for Cardinals
Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 23, 2026
