Could Saquon Barkley be 1st NFL RB to win MVP since Adrian Peterson?
In his first year in Philadelphia, Saquon Barkley is playing at an MVP caliber and is on pace to have the best running back season in Eagles franchise history.
Barkley, the former New York Giant, has made one highlight reel play after another through his first 11 games with the Eagles. His monstrous performance against the Los Angeles Rams has catapulted him into the MVP conversation.
But could he win the award that's historically gone to quarterbacks, especially over the past 12 years?
The stats behind Barkley's historic season
When Barkley signed with the Eagles in March, many wondered if he would have the "Christian McCaffrey effect" on Philadelphia's offense. It's safe to say that he has.
From the opening game in Brazil to the team's most recent win over the Rams, Barkley has put together dominant performance after dominant performance. If it weren't for Philadelphia's unstoppable "Brotherly Shove" play, he would have even better numbers.
In Sunday's 37-20 win over the Rams, Barkley had two 70-plus-yard touchdown runs on his way to a career-high 255 rushing yards. The 255 yards broke the single-game rushing record in Philadelphia, set by Eagles all-time leading rusher LeSean McCoy in 2013 at Lincoln Financial Field during the infamous snow game against the Detroit Lions.
Barkley's performance against the Rams helped him earn NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the fourth time this season. He's the first Eagle to earn the honor four times in a single season.
Barkley's performance of 255 rushing yards was the ninth-best single-game rushing performance in NFL history and trails former running backs like Adrian Peterson, Jamal Lewis, Walter Payton and O.J. Simpson, among others.
In the win over the Rams, Bakley had 47 receiving yards to give him 302 total scrimmage yards. That's the most scrimmage yards in a game in Eagles history and the ninth most in NFL history. Barkley also eclipsed 1,500-plus scrimmage yards (1,602) on the season, which makes him the fastest player to reach that milestone through the first 11 games with a new team in NFL history.
Barkley is also closing in on another McCoy record.
In 11 games, Barkley has a career-best 1,392 rushing yards. He's roughly 200 yards away from breaking McCoy's single-season rushing record of 1,607 yards, set in 2013 during Chip Kelly's first season in Philadelphia. Barkley is averaging 126.5 rushing yards on 6.2 yards per carry. The Birds have seven games left in the regular season, so he'll likely shatter it.
Who was the last running back to win the NFL MVP?
Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings was the last running back to win the MVP award — in 2012. Since then, a quarterback has taken home the hardware each year.
During his MVP campaign in 2012, Peterson rushed for 2,097 yards, averaged 6.0 yards per carry and had 12 rushing touchdowns. He also had 40 catches for 217 yards and one touchdown. Peterson did this a year after he tore his ACL in his left knee, but Barkley is on pace to surpass Peterson's 2012 numbers.
Barkley is on pace for 345 carries, 2,151 rushing yards and roughly 20 touchdowns. Barkley has an extra game to potentially play in if the Eagles don't rest him, given the NFL's 17-game regular season. When Peterson won the award, the NFL had 16 regular season games.
Barkley does have a slight edge over Peterson through the first 11 games over their dominant seasons, respectively.
Peterson had 1,236 rushing yards, 185 receiving yards and seven total touchdowns. Barkley has 1,392 rushing yards, 257 rushing yards and 12 total touchdowns through the first 11 games.
Last season, McCaffrey pushed for the NFL MVP award and finished third in the voting behind Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
McCaffrey had a league-leading 1,459 rushing yards, averaged 5.4 yards per carry, had 564 receiving yards and scored 21 total touchdowns for the San Francisco 49ers.
Other running backs who have won the NFL MVP award since 2000 include LaDainian Tomlinson, Shaun Alexander and Marshall Faulk.
Have the Eagles ever had a player win MVP?
Only one Eagles player has won MVP in franchise history: Norm Van Brocklin in 1960.
Van Brocklin, aka the "Dutchman," helped the Eagles win the NFL championship in 1960 when he won the MVP award. In his MVP season, he had 2,471 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, and an 86.5 quarterback rating.
Since Van Brocklin won the MVP award, several Eagles players have finished second in MVP voting. Jalen Hurts did it in 2022, Michael Vick in 2010, Donovan McNabb finished second in 2000 and Randall Cunningham finished second in MVP voting in 1990 and 1988.
NFL MVP betting odds
Barkley isn't the betting favorite to win MVP, but he's pretty close. And he could improve his odds if he has a strong performance against the Baltimore Ravens this weekend.
On FanDuel Sportsbook, Barkley is tied for third with Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff at +700 to win the award.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is the betting favorite at +150, while Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is listed second at +250.