Which Saquon Barkley will we see when the Eagles face the Packers?

He didn’t play a single snap in the preseason, so Friday night will be the first opportunity to see Saquon Barkley in an Eagles jersey.

“He’s superhuman,” said DeVonta Smith. “I’m so excited for the show.”

Barkley, the Eagles’ most valuable offseason signing, will make his debut for the Eagles on Friday in Sao Paulo when they face the Packers in their season opener.

Barkley’s career rushing average of 5.6 on Opening Day is 10^th-Highest mark by a running back in NFL history (minimum 50 carries). He had three 100-yard games on Opening Day, including a 164-yard game (with six catches) in a Week 1 win over the Titans in 2022.

“I’ve been doing this since I was six or seven years old. I’m just grateful and happy that I get to play this game and get paid a lot to do something I’ve been doing since I was a kid,” Barkley said at his locker on Tuesday before the Eagles left for Brazil. “The nerves before the first game are definitely gone after the first snap.”

There is so much intrigue surrounding Barkley.

First of all, he has been an Eagles killer since entering the NFL. His three career touchdowns of 50 or more yards against the Eagles are tied with 2^and– most of all time (behind Hugh Taylor of Washington in the 40s and 50s).

Plus, he was an unusual signing, as Howie Roseman had never given an outside running back a long-term contract before. And there’s some mystery about which Barkley the Eagles will get – the 2018 and 2022 Pro Bowler or the guy who has struggled with injuries most other years.

And then there’s the fact that the Eagles parted ways with a pretty good (and younger) Pro Bowl player like D’Andre Swift to sign Barkley.

There are many questions about Barkley and we will get the first answers on Friday from 8:15 p.m.

“Super excited,” Barkley said at his locker Tuesday before the Eagles left for Brazil. “Finally here. I’ve put a lot of hard work into this, not just me, but this team. So I know how passionate this fan base is, and I know how excited this fan base is about this team, but we’re holding up, we’re just as excited, we’re ready to go out there and put on a show.”

You can’t blame Barkley for being excited.

In his six years with the Giants, they averaged 5 ½ wins, had one winning season, made the playoffs once and had another offensive Pro Bowler overall – tight end Evan Engram in 2020.

He joins a team that averaged 9 ½ wins over the same period, reached the playoffs five times and had a total of 21 offensive Pro Bowlers.

The Eagles have signed several Pro Bowl running backs in the past with varying degrees of success – Ricky Watters, Dorsey Levens, Chris Warren, DeMarco Murray, Ronnie Brown, Ryan Mathews and Jordan Howard.

That’s different.

“For the last six years, I’ve been able to see him twice a year and watch him do some of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen from a running back on the field,” Dallas Goedert said. “He fits so well in our offense and I’m really glad he’s here. He’s going to be a lot of fun to play with.”

There is no estimating what being surrounded by truly talented players will mean for Barkley’s career.

With the exception of his rookie year, when Odell Beckham was still with the Giants, Sterling Shepard was having the best season of his career, and Eli Manning was in his final year as a starter, Barkley was the center of attention of every defensive coordinator who faced the Giants.

Now he’s part of a group that includes two elite receivers, a top-five tight end and an offensive line with Pro Bowl capabilities.

“I’m excited to see the Devonta show, the AJ Brown show, the Jalen Hurts show, the Dallas Goedert show, all those guys,” Barkley said. “We put a lot of work into it in camp. Obviously we didn’t go out in the preseason, but we had great competition with our defense and I think we have a great game plan, so I’m excited to go out there and try to execute it.”

The game against the Packers will be the Eagles debut not only for Barkley, but also for Kellen Moore, the Eagles’ third offensive coordinator in three years.

“When you have that much talent on the team, I think he does a really good job of letting us go out there and show our God-given ability,” Barkley said. “Take care of the ball, win your one-on-one situations, most of the time we’re in a good position and happy with the result.”

“That’s our mindset. That’s the trust we have in each other. I think Kellen is doing a really good job establishing the offense and all the offensive coaches have done a really good job of making sure we’re schooled on offense. That’s all good. Now we can go out there and show it on Brazilian TV.”