Climbing To The Top: Eagles Star Running Back Jumps 85 Spots To No. 1

PHILADELPHIA – The NFL’s top 100 countdown, voted on by players across the league, is over. And the top player on the list … drum roll, please … Saquon Barkley.

The Eagles superstar running back had a season for the ages, breaking Terrell Davis’ record for most rushing yards in a season (including playoffs) with 2,504. Davis had 2,476 in 1998. In the process, Barkley became just the ninth player in NFL history to top 2,000 yards on the ground.

The list goes on:

-He was the league’s offensive player of the year.

-He set an NFL record for the most 60-yards-plus touchdown runs with seven.

-He set the Eagles record for most yards in a regular-season game with 255 and in the playoffs with 205. Both came against the Rams.

-His reverse hurdle against the Jacksonville Jaguars earned him an ESPY award for play of the year.

-The Eagles rewarded him in the offseason with a contract extension that made him the first running back to make $20 million per year.

Barkley One Of 9 Eagles To Make The Top 100

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts goes through a ball security drill during training camp. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

And now, he is the second running back to ever finish at No. 1 in the NFL’s top 100 countdown as voted on by the players. It’s a countdown now in its 15th season. The other running back to take the top spot was Adrian Peterson in 2013.

Last year, Barkley finished 86th in the same countdown. His highest finish was as a rookie in 2019 when he was No. 16.

NFL Films producer Senior Producer Shannon Furman informed Barkley of the honor during an interview at his house in June, per the Eagles’ website.

"The Top 100 list is always a little controversial, but it's fun for us here at Films,” Furman told the Eagles’ site. “Some guys love it. Some guys hate it. They don't understand how it could possibly work and whatnot. Saquon is a player who's always respected this list.

“He was very stoic. He just had this big smile on his face and was just like, 'This is a great way to start this interview.' He told me after it ended, 'If I wasn't going to be top 10 on this list, I was going to kick you out of my house.’”

Barkley was one of nine Eagles players to make the list:

Jalen Hurts 19

Lane Johnson 23

Zach Baun 26

A.J. Brown 29

Jalen Carter 43

Quinyon Mitchell 49

Cooper DeJean 60

Jordan Mailata 69

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