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When is Saquon Barkley coming back? Will Saquon Barkley play again this season? Read about Saquon Barkley's return date and injury updates for 2026.
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (hamstring) has had an extremely disappointing campaign for the 2026 NFL season so far.
Even if you set aside his injury, he's been nowhere near his 2024 self for fantasy football. Now, he's dealing with a hamstring issue.
When will Barkley return to play? Can he get back to 100 percent? And will he get back on track to being one of the NFL's best RBs for fantasy football? Let's dive in.
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Saquon Barkley Injury Update for Fantasy Football
Barkley's hamstring injury didn't land him on injured reserve, so it's likely that he could push through the ailment and come back in Week 7. The dynamic of the situation has changed, though.
Due to the Eagles now having to start a backup QB all season, it's possible we could see Barkley held out for longer out of an abundance of caution. Due to the injury situation with their starting quarterback, the Eagles may throw in the towel and call it a lost season.
#Eagles RB Saquon Barkley is considered week-to-week with his hamstring injury, per me and @MikeGarafolo. It’s not considered to be a long-term injury. https://t.co/WvZgowe7Hs
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 6, 2026
Barkley simply pulled up on a run while sprinting. It's a classic mechanism for a hamstring strain. Still, we'll need to see if the Eagles re-evaluate how much time they want to rest him, considering the state of their season moving forward.
We've seen players get shut down for full seasons when a team decides it wants to tank. That's probably not going to happen here, at least not immediately, but late in the season, it's something worth keeping an eye on.
Saquon Barkley Fantasy Football Outlook
We can answer the last question of the introduction pretty simply. There is almost zero chance that Barkley comes anywhere near where he was in 2024. That year was an extreme outlier for RB production in NFL history.
The Eagles had the best offensive line in the NFL by a wide margin. They still had elite offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland coaching up some of the best linemen in the NFL. And they opened gaping, truly chasmic holes for Barkley to run through. He thrives in open space.
SAQUON ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
📺: #WASvsPHI on FOX
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus https://t.co/26534Ls9Mx— NFL (@NFL) January 26, 2025
The only thing he didn't have was high-end receiving upside. Now, the team's offensive line is a shadow of its former self. The only one of the elite offensive linemen that remains is left tackle Jordan Mailata.
The play of right tackle Lane Johnson and left guard Landon Dickerson (knee) diminished greatly after 2024. Johnson recently retired, and Dickerson is struggling with a knee injury that ruled him out for Week 6.
And Eagles starting quarterback Jalen Hurts now has deep vein thrombosis, and will miss the rest of the season. Philadelphia's medical staff allowed him to play with superficial blood clots. It was a move that could have caused him serious harm.
#Eagles QB Jalen Hurts, who is out for the season after several blood clots were revealed in his lungs, has been undergoing tests for days.
Before the London game, Hurts was in the hospital until 4 am and did not sleep because sleep was a risk. He played without having slept. https://t.co/avMUeBBOua
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 19, 2026
It's pretty much over for Barkley as a high-end fantasy RB. His film shows a player on the decline, too. Philly's offense will struggle with a backup QB for the rest of the year -- as if they weren't already struggling with Hurts.
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Week 7 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players: Saquon Barkley, Dameon Pierce, DeVonta Smith. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 7.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, player news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 7 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 7 (2026)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 7 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 7 for Saquon Barkley, Dameon Pierce, DeVonta Smith:
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