Eagles RB Saquon Barkley Cracks Top 10, Lands Big Prediction

The Philadelphia Eagles have the best running back in football.

It's tough to argue against Saquon Barkley. There surely are plenty of talented backs throughout the league, but no one has done what Barkley did in 2024. He became the first running back to rack up over 2,500 rushing yards in a season, including the playoffs. The Eagles superstar thrived in his first season in town and certainly has a shot at another big year in 2025.

The Eagles didn't suffer through much turnover on offense. Mekhi Becton no longer is with the team, but the vast majority of the offense is still intact.

If Barkley can stay healthy, it should be another great year. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler shared a column where coaches, executives, and scouts ranked the top 10 running backs in the league heading into the 2025 season and Barkley unsurprisingly was No. 1.

"Let's just say scouts around the league who once forecast Barkley as a transcendent player can admire those old scouting reports with a low-key fist pump," Fowler said. "'It was almost like this was expected -- he was always expected to be this,' an NFL personnel director said. 'You can call it confirmation bias. Everybody thought he was a great player (at Penn State) and he proved what people thought he would be. It just took some peaks and valleys. And he was in a bad offense (in New York).'

"When including the regular season and playoffs, Barkley's 2,504 rush yards and seven scrimmage touchdowns of 60-plus yards are the most in a season in NFL history. His speed was constantly on display, reaching at least 20 mph on nine touchdown runs, per Next Gen Stats. No other player had more than two...'He can go another few years with high-level play behind that (offensive) line,' the director said."

Barkley is just 28 years old and had 2,005 rushing yards in 16 regular season games in 2024. The Eagles handed him a contract extension already this offseason. Philadelphia's Super Bowl window is wide open and that is in large part to Barkley.