The Philadelphia Eagles have a new offensive coordinator who is expected to run a Sean McVay-style offense and star Saquon Barkley wants to be as prepared as possible for Week 1, so he’s reaching out to former Rams running backs for advice. Namely, former Offensive Player of the Year Todd Gurley.
Barkley was asked about how he’s preparing to play in Sean Mannion’s outside zone run scheme and the running back said he reached out to Gurley for tips on playing in the system:
“You’re not blinded when you
focus on this side. You ever get your shoulder square, easier? I don’t know if y’all know what that means like… When I say we have an inside run. From gun and you got to really work on getting the shoulders squared so they can see the whole field. From under center is easier. You need downhill a little quicker. You could threaten them with stretches in outside zone a lot more. There’s a lot of unique things you could do. And yeah, it’s no secret what the system is about. And I look forward to doing that. Probably be the most I’ve ever done it under center too, and you know, outside zone. Y’all got good stuff but it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to work on and getting better at it. Trying to do my best.”
Mannion is a former Rams quarterback who spent two years of his career under Sean McVay from 2017-2018.
He later spent parts of his career playing for other McVay coaches, including Shane Waldron on the Seattle Seahawks and Kevin O’Connell on the Minnesota Vikings. Mannion was a surprising hire by the Eagles as he is only two years removed from his playing career and has never called plays before.
Regardless of his experience, Mannion is responsible now for helping players like Barkley get back to the numbers he had two seasons ago en route to winning the Super Bowl.
- Gurley reached the Super Bowl in 2018 as a first-team All-Pro playing in McVay’s outside zone scheme and gaining 1,831 total yards and 21 touchdowns.
- Barkley was Offensive Player of the Year in 2024, gaining 2,283 total yards and 15 touchdowns.
Running backs do tend to stick together. It’s not surprising that Barkley is reaching out to Gurley, but could this advice end up helping the Eagles beat the Rams in any key games next season?
That’s part of the business.
