Miles Sanders may Modernize No. 26, but 3 Old-School Players Own it Now

Miles Sanders is busy updating the No. 26.

For now, though, the rookie running back still has some work ahead bringing it into the modern era, but he should be able to break into the rankings of the best to wear No. 26 in Eagle history before too very long.

As it is, he broke two longstanding rookie records last year, including the rushing record for a season that LeSean McCoy set in 2009 and the yards from scrimmage mark that DeSean Jackson had held since 2008.

The No. 26, however, is an ode to the past – the not-too-distant and the long gone.

Cornerback Lito Shepperd gets the nod as the top player with a fellow defensive back coming in third and a running back taking the top spot.

The running back is Clarence Peaks, who played in Philadelphia in parts of the 1950s and 1960s; the DB is Al Nelson, who spent portions of the 1960s and 1970s with the Eagles.

Here’s more:

Current number 26:

Miles Sanders. Give him another year and he may vault into the top spot. Sanders developed quickly as a rookie and by the end of the season should have been in the rookie of the year conversation. This is a number he could make his very own and put separation between himself and the following three players.

Top 3 to wear number 26:

3. Al Nelson. Drafted in the third-round back in 1965, the cornerback spent his entire NFL career in Philadelphia, all nine seasons. He started 100 of the 105 games he played in and had 19 interceptions.

Nelson was also a very good kickoff return man, returning 101 kicks with an average of 26 yards per return.

2. Clarence Peaks. Picked seventh overall in 1957 out of Michigan State, Peaks gave the Eagles what they were looking for, a running back who played in 83 games over seven seasons with 65 starts. Peaks gained 2,927 yards in his career with the Eagles, scoring 19 touchdowns. He was also a good pass catcher out of the backfield, with 175 receptions for 1,658 yards and three more scores.

In 1960 when the Eagles won the NFL Championship, Peaks led the team in rushing with an average of 5.4 yards.

He was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1964 and he played two more seasons with them.

1. Lito Shepperd. The 26th pick overall in 2002, Shepperd was part of a group of three straight defensive backs taken by the Eagles that year, with Michael Lewis and Sheldon Brown coming after him.

Shepperd became a full-time starter in 2004, which was is first All-Pro and Pro Bowl season as the Eagles reached Super Bowl XXXIX. He had five interceptions with two returned for touchdowns that season.

Injuries limited him to 10 games the following year, but he still recorded five interceptions.

Another Pro Bowl season followed in 2006 as Shepperd spent seven years in Philadelphia, registering 18 interceptions, with three of those returned for TDs.

He bounced around with three different teams over the final three years of his career, notching only one more pick in that time.

Runner-up:

Jay Ajayi. The running back was the final piece added to the Eagles’ Super Bowl puzzle when he was acquired at the trade deadline in 2017. He had nine carries for 57 yards in the Eagles’ win over the Patriots in Super Bowl LII. During the Eagles’ three-game run to the championship, he had 42 carries for 184 yards with six catches for 70 yards.

Bad knees ended Ajayi’s career prematurely, and he played jut 14 games in two-and-half years in Philadelphia.

Others: Joseph Kresky, Jack Norby, Dan Barnhardt, Forest McPherson, Winford Baze, Wimpy Giddens, Lester McDonald, Dave DiFilippo, Al Jackson, Jerome Henderson, Darnell Autry, Sean Jones, Mike Bell, Jaiquawn Jarrett, Cary Williams, Walter Thurmond, and Jaylen Watkins.

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