Eric Dickerson thinks Eagles' Saquon Barkley will fall short of rushing record

Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Football legend Eric Dickerson thinks his longstanding NFL single-season rushing record will hold up through the 2024 season, despite Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley nearing the mark.

The former Los Angeles Rams running back, who ran for 2,105 yards in 1984, also said he doesn't want Barkley to break his record.

"I don't think he'll break it," Dickerson told the Los Angeles Times. "But if he breaks it, he breaks it. Do I want him to break it? Absolutely not. I don't pull no punches on that.

"But I'm not whining about it. He had 17 games to do it? Hey, football is football. That's the way I look at it. If he's fortunate to get over 2,000 yards and get the record, it's a great record to have."

Dickerson averaged 131.6 yards per game over 14 appearances en route to his 1984 record. He passed O.J. Simpson's previous mark, which was set in 1973. Simpson averaged 143.1 yards per game over 14 appearances for that previous record total of 2,003 yards.

Barkley, who averaged 122.5 yards per game over 15 appearances en route to 1,838 yards, will get two more games to reach Dickerson's record mark. He is 268 yards away from setting a record.

Barkley didn't eclipse 1,312 rushing yards in a season through his first six years in the NFL, which were all spent with the New York Giants.

"He's elusive, he's tough, he runs hard, he can catch the ball out of the backfield," Dickerson said of Barkley.

"I think he's a great player. I always felt like he'd never reach his potential when he was in New York. You could take Emmitt Smith and put him in Cleveland, and he'd have never been the Emmitt Smith we know now.

"Even myself. If you'd have put me in Cincinnati on a bad team, I'd have never been that guy. Because these bad football teams with no blocking, I don't care how great you are. If you don't have the guys in front of you, you can't do it."

Barkley needs 162 yards to become the ninth player in NFL history to rush for at least 2,000 yards in one season, joining Dickerson, Adrian Peterson, Jamal Lewis, Barry Sanders, Derrick Henry, Terrell Davis and Chris Johnson.

Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry, who ran for 1,783 yards through 16 starts, also is in range of reaching the 2,000-yard mark, but would need 217 yards in a season finale against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday in Baltimore.

Barkley's Eagles will host the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17 and the Giants in Week 18.