Momentum is reportedly picking up in the NFL leaguewide about the possibility of banning the “tush push” made famous in recent years by the Philadelphia Eagles. Even though other teams have tried to mimic the play in short-yardage and goalline situations, only the Eagles have a near-flawless track record running it. That hasn’t stopped the NFL from considering banning it, as it has been brought up as a concern by several teams, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini. If the NFL does ban the tush push, it will have a massive impact on Fantasy Football leagues and the landscape in 2025.
In 2024, Saquon Barkley reminded the Fantasy Football world that he can put up RB1 numbers in the right situation. Barkley finished as the RB1 overall in standard scoring formats and this was despite not playing in Week 18. In PPR scoring formats, Barkley wasn’t too far behind at RB2 overall. He saw advanced stats numbers that had tumbled with the Giants like yards after contact, explosive run rate, and forced missed tackles all take a jump forward with the Eagles. Notably, his yards before contact jumped significantly in 2025 while running behind the Eagles offensive line. The situation around him in 2025 will be equally as fruitful for Fantasy scoring, but if the tush push is in fact banned by the NFL, Barkley might reach cheat code levels of production.
Over the last two seasons, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts has run for 29 touchdowns. Of those 29 touchdowns, 22 of those (76%) have come from the 1-yard line in tush push situations. If the tush push is banned, it’s safe to assume that the majority — if not all of those touchdowns will be transferred to Barkley. Even during the worst seasons in New York when their offensive line was injured and arguably the worst in the NFL, Barkley was a weapon in the red zone.
What makes Barkley’s 2024 season so special from a Fantasy standpoint is that he finished RB1 (standard) despite rushing for just 13 touchdowns. So many of those touchdowns were taken from him by the tush push. He made up for it by racking up over 2,000 rushing yards in just 17 games and nearly breaking the all-time rushing record. In 2025, if the tush push is gone, a safe projection for Barkley might be 17 rushing touchdowns. However, that projection would assume either the Eagles regressing as an offense or Barkley taking just four of the double-digit touchdowns from the one-yard line that the Eagles used Hurts to score on in 2024. The Eagles return all starters and the first scenario seems unlikely. They haven’t brought in any competition for red zone work and utilized Barkley as a near-true workhorse in 2024 — the latter scenario also seems unlikely.
Barkley has the chance to score over 20 touchdowns in 2025 while also likely racking up nearly 2,000 yards rushing. Whatever he offers as a receiving option is just icing on top of a cake that every Fantasy manager should want to have and eat too. Barkley becomes the clear first-overall draft pick in Fantasy leagues if the tush push is banned, but that doesn’t do his upside — with this new rule in place — justice. He becomes a player that auction drafters should be willing to spend up to $10-15 of your budget more than the next-highest drafted player. He makes getting the first overall pick in snake drafts borderline unfair.
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