Of course NFL betting sites were high on Saquon Barkley following a dream 2024 NFL season that included a Super Bowl ring and the distinction as the league’s leading rusher that helped him claim the Offensive Player of the Year Award.
He opened this season at most online sportsbooks as a +500 favorite to win the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award for a second consecutive season after rumbling for 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground in 2024.
BetMGM, a popular U.S. sportsbook, reported prior to Week 1 that 5.5% of the handle at the sportsbook in the Offensive Player of the Year betting market was on the Philadelphia Eagles running back to win the award in back-to-back seasons. However, heading into Week 8, his odds have lengthened considerably to +6600 after a slow start to the season by his standards.
One year removed from finishing third in NFL MVP voting behind Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, Barkley opened as a +5000 long shot at BetMGM to win the award in 2025. He’s now an extreme long shot with +30000 odds to claim his stake as the league MVP.
Barkley’s production has fallen sharply from last year’s record-setting season. He has just 369 rushing yards on 113 carries (3.3 YPC) and three rushing touchdowns through seven games, ranking 25th in rush yards per game (53.4) and 39th in yards per carry. In 2024, he averaged 125 rushing yards per game on 5.8 YPC and scored 13 touchdowns. This year he has failed to eclipse 100 rushing yards in any game and hasn’t produced a single run longer than 17 yards.
A popular anytime touchdown scorer selection at NFL betting sites last season after scoring a TD in 10 of his 20 games, including the playoffs, Barkley has maintained his ability to find paydirt in 2025, finding the end zone in four of his seven games for bettors. However, he’s failed to score in the team’s last two games against the Minnesota Vikings and Giants.
Barkley carried the ball a whopping 345 times last season, accounting for one of the heaviest workloads in NFL history. He’s also battled minor knee and shoulder injuries that haven’t prevented him from missing a game yet this season but could certainly be hampering his usual explosiveness. Injuries on the team’s offensive line to Cam Jurgens, Landon Dickerson, and Lane Johnson certainly also haven’t helped the Eagles and Barkley run the ball effectively through seven games.
The good news for the Eagles is that they’re still 5-2 and leading the NFC East Division heading into their Week 8 tilt against the lowly New York Giants, who have just a 2-5 record this season. After opening the season as one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl at around +650 odds, Philadelphia’s Super Bowl outright odds have moved to +1000 after seven weeks of play, behind the Kansas City Chiefs (around +500), Detroit Lions (around +650), Buffalo Bills (around +700), and Green Bay Packers (around +800).
