No new rushing record as Barkley to sit season-finale

January 1, 2025

No new rushing record as Barkley to sit season-finale … In the end there will be no new single season rushing record in either the NFL or FBS. For those that missed it last night but Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty came up 31 yards shy of breaking Barry Sanders’ decades old college record as the Broncos lost their CFL quarter-final match-up with Penn State 31-14 in the Fiesta Bowl. Jeanty did run for 96 yards on 24 carries against PSU, but for the most part was bottled up by the Nittany Lions’ defence which clearly came into the game with one primary mission: shut down #2! And Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley will not break Eric Dickerson’s long-standing NFL record as the Eagles have confirmed that he will not play in Sunday’s season-finale against the Giants despite being only 101 yards short of the record. On the one hand, that’s good news for the Giants who won’t have to face the ignomy of having Barkley, their former star whom they allowed to leave in free agency last winter, set the record against them. The bad news for the Giants, who currently sit 4th in the 2025 draft selection order after upsetting Indianapolis last Sunday, will likely be facing what may be not much more than the Eagles B team on Sunday and the last thing the Giants need to do is win another game to further erode their draft position.

In fact, it could be something of a weird weekend for the teams looking to secure positions early in the 2025 draft. Like the Giants, the three teams currently sitting on picks 1-2-3, for example, are all scheduled to face playoff teams. But, as often happens on the final weekend of the schedule, the better teams that have already locked up their playoff seeding sit out their top stars. New England which would have had the #1 pick overall were the draft held this week, for example, is slated to play 13-3 Buffalo, but the Bills who are locked into the AFC’s #2 seed, have confirmed that while star QB Josh Allen will star against the Patriots in order to extend his consecutive starts streak, it won’t actually be much more than a cameo appearance. Interestingly, there had been some chatter that the Patriots themselves might sit out their QB Drake Maye in order to secure the #1 pick, but it now appears that he will play. On the other hand, Cleveland which would pick 3rd will be facing Lamar Jackson and all the Ravens’ starters when they play Baltimore on Saturday as the Ravens still need a win to clinch the AFC North title and home-field advantage in the first-round. Meanwhile, its still not clear what Tennessee, #2 in the current draft order, will be facing when they play Houston on Sunday. Houston is locked into the #4 seed in the AFC, but may play QB CJ Stroud and their other regulars to se if they can jump-start an offence that has been struggling of late. Bottom line is that nobody should be counting their draft chickens quite yet!!