Saquon Barkley Fantasy Outlook Set to Bounce Back in Week 14 With Eli Manning Starting at QB

By his usual standards, Saquon Barkley's production has been pretty underwhelming ever since he returned from a knee injury in Week 7. Those were the only full games he's played with Daniel Jones as the starting QB, but he should be in for a bounce-back game in Week 14 against the Philadelphia Eagles with Eli Manning back as the New York Giants' starter.

Eli started the first two games of the season, and Barkley exploded for 227 yards and one score on 29 carries while adding 47 yards on seven receptions and 13 targets in the passing game. He topped 17.0 PPR fantasy points in both games.

That production had little to do with Manning or the way the Giants' offense played under him though. He's averaging more carries (16.7) per game since returning than he did in those two (14.5), and he's accounted for 17 percent of the team's targets, averaging 6.3 per game since Week 7. That's up from 14 percent and right in line with his 6.5 per game in the first two.

The real difference has been rushing efficiency. His 7.8 yards per carry through two games was never going to be sustainable, especially when working his way back from a knee injury starting in Week 7.

Barkley does seem to be trending in the right direction as well. Despite dealing with his toughest matchup since returning, his 3.5 yards per carry against the Chicago Bears in Week 12 was his second-best mark since the injury. His 4.4 yards per carry last week against the Green Bay Packers was his best average since Week 2. He has also seen a combined 46 opportunities (36 carries plus 10 targets) in the last two weeks.

It's not going to be driven by Manning's return, but with his efficiency trending in the right direction and an elite workload likely coming his way, Barkley is set to bounce back on Monday.

He checks in at RB4 in our Week 14 PPR fantasy football rankings.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.