Eric Dickerson ‘absolutely not’ rooting for Eagles star Saquon Barkley to break single-season rushing record

There are plenty of people rooting for Eagles star Saquan Barkley to set the NFL single-season rushing record this season. 

Former Rams running back Eric Dickerson, the owner of the record, is not one of them. 

Barkley is putting together one of the greatest rushing seasons in NFL history. With two games left in the regular season, not only is he on his way to putting together his first 2,000-yard campaign, but he is within striking distance of Dickerson’s single-season rushing mark with the Rams.

With the Eagles having already clinched a spot in the playoffs and being one victory away from clinching the NFC East, a majority of the talk in Philadelphia is surrounding Barkley’s rushing pace. As a result, Dickerson has been the recipient of plenty of questions about Barkley’s season. 

The Hall of Famer may be rooting for Barkley’s success, but he is “absolutely not” pulling for the Eagles star to break his record. Here is more on what Dickerson said about Barkley’s season and how close he is to breaking the rushing record. 

NFL HQ: Live NFL scores | Updated NFL standings | Full NFL schedule

Why Eric Dickerson doesn’t want Saquon Barkley to break his rushing record

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Dickerson said he doesn’t think Barkley will break his record. Not only that, but he prefers if the Eagles star didn’t surpass his mark.  

“I don’t think he’ll break it,” Dickerson said to the Los Angeles Times. “But if he breaks it, he breaks it.

“Do I want him to break it? Absolutely not. I don’t pull no punches on that.”

It’s not the first time that Dickerson has shot down the idea of rooting for his mark to be passed. Earlier this month, he said that he was “most definitely” supporting Barkley on his quest for the MVP, but wanted his name still attached to the rushing record.

MORE: How close Saquon Barkley is to breaking Eric Dickerson’s record

“No, I don’t want my record broken,” Dickerson previously said. “If he breaks it, he breaks it, and I’m not gonna lose sleep over it. But when I broke that record, I didn’t have kids at the time, but I said, if anyone breaks it, I’d like my son to break it.”

Dickerson isn’t singling out Barkley either. When Ravens running back Derrick Henry threatened his historical mark in 2020, the former Rams standout also went on the record saying he didn’t want the then-Titans star to pass him.

With that said, Dickerson isn’t going to make a fuss if it is Barkley that sits atop the single-season rushing throne. There are some that are ready to discredit Barkley’s season since he will have had one extra game to do. The NFL still had 16-game seasons when Dickerson set the mark, while Barkley is playing a 17-game schedule. 

“I’m not whining about it,” Dickerson said if Barkley breaks his mark. “He had 17 games to do it? Hey, football is football. That’s the way I look at it. If he’s fortunate to get over 2,000 yards and get the record, it’s a great record to have.”

MORE NFL WEEK 17:

Saquon Barkley rushing pace

Stats entering Week 17

Following Philadelphia’s Week 16 game against Washington, Barkley is up to 1,838 rushing yards on the season. 

The Eagles star is 162 yards shy of reaching 2,000 yards. If he were to hit the milestone, he would become only the ninth player ever in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season. 

Barkley is 267 yards away from Dickerson’s rushing record. Dickerson, the former star for the Rams, is the only player in NFL history to end a season with at least 2,100 rushing yards. 

After Week 16, Barkley is averaging 122.5 yards per game in the 2024 campaign. This is the first season in his career he is averaging over 100 yards per game on the ground.  

If Barkley continues that pace for the last two games in the regular season, then he would finish with 2,083 yards. That would allow him to hit the historic 2,000-yard threshold, and he would cement himself as owning one of the best rushing seasons in NFL history. 

However, at that pace, he would fall short of Dickerson’s mark. Barkley would be 22 yards away from the NFL rushing record. 

NFL DRAFT NEWS:

Eric Dickerson rushing record

Dickerson owns the all-time single-season rushing record for the NFL. He set the mark in 1984 when he rushed for 2,105 yards with the Rams. He averaged an astonishing 131.6 yards per game that season. 

The closest another player has come to the record was Adrian Peterson’s performance during the 2012 season with the Vikings. He came eight yards short of Dickerson’s mark, ending his campaign with 2,097 yards. 

Here’s a look at the best rushing season in NFL history. 

WEEK 17 FANTASY FOOTBALL RANKINGS
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/ST | Kickers