Did Saquon Barkley just have the greatest season ever by a running back?

Now that we’ve all caught our breath after a wild regular season, a peerless postseason, a historic Super Bowl and a jubilant parade, it’s a good time to take a step back and try to put Saquon Barkley’s season into context.

It was electrifying. It was explosive. It was breathtaking. But was it the greatest season any running back has ever had?

Let’s take a look.

First, let’s recap exactly what Barkley accomplished in his first season with the Eagles.

His 2,025 regular-season rushing yards were 9^th-most in history, his 5.8 yards per carry were 8^th-best and his 2,283 scrimmage yards were 13^th-most.

And both Barkley’s 499 postseason rushing yards and 574 postseason scrimmage yards were 4^th-most in history.

Combined, his 2,504 rushing yards and 2,857 scrimmage yards were both the highest totals ever recorded in a single season.

But the best ever?

Let’s take a look at the competition. We whittled down every running back season ever to a top 5:

Terrell Davis, Broncos, 1998: Davis rushed for 2,008 yards with 21 touchdowns and a 5.1 average with 2,225 scrimmage yards with 23 touchdowns in the regular season and then added 468 rushing yards, 69 receiving yards, a 6.0 average and three more TDs in the postseason. He had over 100 yards in all three postseason games, including 102 in the Broncos’ Super Bowl XXXIII win over the Falcons in Miami. It was his single-season combined rushing and scrimmage yards records that Barkley broke.

Jim Brown, Browns, 1963: You can take your pick of monumental seasons in Brown’s career, but in 1963 he ran for 1,863 yards in 14 games, averaged 6.4 yards per carry, scored 12 touchdowns and added 268 receiving yards. Brown averaged over 50 yards per game more than any other back in 1963. The Browns went 10-4 but a 33-6 home loss to the Giants in which Brown had only 40 rushing yards cost them the Eastern Conference title, and it was the Giants who faced the Bears in the NFL Championship Game, losing 14-10.

Barry Sanders, Lions, 1997: Sanders ran for 2,053 yards – 4^th-most ever - with a 6.0 average and led the NFL with 2,358 scrimmage yards with 14 TDs. Going into the playoffs he had rushed for 100 or more yards 14 straight games, but in the Lions’ wild-card loss in Tampa he ran 18 times for just 65 yards.

Adrian Peterson, Vikings, 2012: A.P.’s 2,097 rushing yards are 2^nd-most ever and he averaged 6.0 yards per carry with 12 TDs and added 217 receiving yards. But like Sanders’ Lions in 1997, Peterson’s Vikings were non-competitive in the postseason, losing 24-10 to Mike McCarthy’s Packers. Peterson was OK in that game with 22 carries for 99 yards for a 4.5 average - well below his regular-season average.

There’s no consensus on what defines the best year ever, but for me having a historic regular season and then a nondescript postseason isn't enough. You have to be elite in the postseason, as well. That eliminates Sanders and Peterson. The Browns in 1963 didn’t reach the postseason, although that was obviously in the pre-wild card era. But as brilliant as Brown was that year, you’ve got to at least lead your team to a championship to be considered the best ever. Otherwise it’s just stats.

So that leaves Davis in 1998 and Barkley in 2024.

They are the only backs in history to rush for 1,800 yards and win a championship. In fact, they’re the only backs in history to rush for 1,500 yards and 5.0 yards per carry and win a championship.

Both had monster regular seasons and both had record-setting postseasons. Both led their teams to a Super Bowl championship.

So how do we separate them?

Davis had 11 100-yard games during a 16-game regular season and three in three postseason games, and Barkley had 14 in 16 regular-season games and three in four postseason games.

Davis had four TDs of 40 yards or more, Barkley had seven. Both averaged over 5.0 yards per carry in 11 games. Both accounted for exactly 36.5 percent of their team’s offense.

Very similar numbers, very similar achievements, very similar seasons, very similar team achievements.

One curious difference. Davis was better in the first half of games than after halftime – 5.2 yards per carry and 72 yards per first half, 4.9 yards per carry and 57 yards in the second half. By the second half, the Broncos were more about John Elway throwing to Rod Smith and Ed McCaffrey than Davis grinding out the yards.

Barkley was crushing people in the second half, which is when games are won. His 2^nd-half numbers are unprecedented – 78 rushing yards per game and 6.7 yards per carry. In crunch time, Davis was very good and Barkley was unstoppable. Barkley averaged nearly two yards per carry more after halftime than Davis. That's significant.

Davis in 1998 had an astonishing year. 

But only one running back has ever rushed for 2,500 yards in a season. Only one running back has ever had seven 40-yard touchdowns in a season. Only one running back has ever had 2,800 scrimmage yards. Only one back has ever had 1,500 yards in his last 11 games of a regular season then won a Super Bowl. Only one back has ever had 400 rushing yards, a 6.0 average and five TDs over a three-game postseason span. Only one running back has ever rushed for nearly 1,500 yards in a season after halftime.

Saquon.

Barkley was so good this year he turned a franchise built on passing the football into an unstoppable running machine that carried the Eagles all the way to a championship.

You can make a pretty good case for Davis in 1998, but no running back has ever done more or meant more to a Super Bowl champion than Barkley did this year. And that makes his 2024 season the greatest ever by a running back.

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