The Eagles have officially ruled out Saquon Barkley for Sunday's 1 p.m. ET game against the Carolina Panthers at Lincoln Financial Field. It will be his second straight missed game with a hamstring injury. Barkley got hurt four snaps into the Week 4 loss to the Rams and sat out last week's game in London. The bigger fantasy story is what's left behind him. Will Shipley, who started in Barkley's place against Jacksonville, is now on injured reserve with a foot injury. Tank Bigsby is also on IR after core muscle surgery. That leaves Dameon Pierce as the expected starter, with Carson Steele behind him.
That makes Pierce the clear answer to who replaces Barkley. Whether he should be a waiver priority is a different question, and last week's tape argues against it. In the 19-17 walk-off loss to the Jaguars, the Eagles ran 18 times for 22 yards, the team's worst rushing day in more than 11 years. Shipley started and scored his first career regular-season rushing touchdown, but he managed just 6 yards on five carries before his foot gave out late in the first quarter. Pierce handled the rest of the backfield work and finished with 14 yards on 11 carries. Steele had been signed off the practice squad before the game and played only special teams.
This week the volume should be Pierce's from the start. There's no Shipley to split early work with, and the only other healthy back on the active roster is Steele. Jaydon Blue and Ian Wheeler are on the practice squad and could be called up for depth. Blue ran 38 times for 129 yards and a touchdown as a Cowboys rookie last season, which doesn't suggest he'll take the job. For managers who need a running back this weekend, a likely workhorse role is the main thing Pierce has going for him.
The matchup gives him some help. Carolina has allowed about 156.5 rushing yards per game, second-most in the league behind Dallas. That average is inflated by a 291-yard game against Chicago in Week 1, though. The Panthers have allowed 157 at Atlanta, 132 at Cleveland and only 46 to Detroit since. They're a beatable run defense, but not as bad as the season average makes them look.
The quarterback situation takes some of that away. Jalen Hurts is out after doctors found a superficial blood clot in his leg, so Tanner McKee will start. McKee has completed 61.4 percent of his passes for 597 yards, five touchdowns and one interception across six career games and two starts. He has played reasonably well in small doses. Still, without Hurts the Eagles lose the threat of their quarterback running, and defenses have no reason to fear it. Pierce could see more crowded fronts than Barkley usually does. The offense is also on a three-game losing streak at 2-3, and touchdown chances may be harder to come by.
The passing game does get healthier. DeVonta Smith, who missed Weeks 4 and 5 with his own hamstring problem, practiced Friday without an injury designation. Dontayvion Wicks was a full participant Friday. If those receivers keep defenses honest, Pierce may face fewer stacked boxes, but that's a hope, not a guarantee.
Barkley's own baseline is useful context. Last season he ran for 1,140 yards and seven touchdowns on 280 carries, 4.1 yards per carry, a big drop from his 2,005-yard 2024 season. Even in a down year, he was a back the Eagles trusted with about 16 to 17 carries a game. Pierce is being asked to absorb that kind of workload with almost no proven help behind him. In London he showed he can handle volume. He did not show he can do much with it.
The timeline matters as much as the matchup. Barkley has been described as week-to-week, not out long term. Next up is a Monday night game against Dallas, whose run defense has allowed the most rushing yards in the league. If Barkley returns for that game or the Week 8 Sunday night game against Washington, Pierce goes back to being a backup almost immediately. Bigsby and Shipley are on IR, so Pierce should keep a role behind Barkley for a few weeks, but not a fantasy-relevant one.
Bottom line: Pierce is a reasonable Week 6 flex or RB2 for managers who are short-handed, mostly because of volume. Most leagues' waiver runs have already processed, so he's likely a free-agent pickup if he's still there. Don't spend a high waiver claim or a big chunk of your budget on him. He's a one- or two-week fill-in, and anyone holding Barkley should keep him.