Saquon Barkley isn't in the conversation for just the top running back in the NFL; he's up there for the best, period.
For the 13th consecutive year, current players voted to determine the "Top 100" in the NFL. Barkley, coming off the second Pro Bowl campaign of his career, was ranked No. 31, the NFL revealed Tuesday night.
It was Barkley's third time cracking the list. The former second overall draft pick came in at No. 16, his all-time high, in 2019 after he was named the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. In 2020, he was also ranked No. 31.
"For everyone that's known me since I've been here as a rookie, take care of the little things and everything else is going to take care of itself. I've been saying that since I was a 21-year-old rookie," Barkley said in his first press conference after singing the franchise tag last week. "I've been saying that since I was a 19-year-old at Penn State when I was first able to talk to the media. That's something I believe in. That's something that I believe to the core, and I'm always going to live by that. That's how I'm going to keep rocking."
View photos of Giants running back Saquon Barkley's time with the New York Giants.
What is "little" to Barkley is giant for most running backs.
Voted a team captain for the fourth consecutive season in 2022, Barkley was one of three players nominated for NFL Comeback Player of the Year after finishing with career-high totals of 295 carries for 1,312 yards (fourth in NFL). He also rushed for 10 touchdowns, one fewer than his career-high total, which he set in his 2018 Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign. Barkley's 1,000-yard season on the ground was the 26th in Giants history – his third – and he was one of three NFL players in 2022 to lead his team in rushing and receptions.
Barkley's 6,069 scrimmage yards are the highest total by a player in his first five seasons who began his career with the Giants. The former second overall draft pick ended the 2022 season sixth on the franchise career rushing list with 4,249 yards, 389 behind Alex Webster.
Barkley is one of five players in Giants history with 4,000+ rushing yards and 100+ receptions, joining Tiki Barber, Rodney Hampton, Webster and Ahmad Bradshaw. Barkley has rushed for more than 1,000 yards three times in five seasons, tying him with Joe Morris for the third-highest total in Giants history, behind Barber (six) and Hampton (five).
Barkley has rushed for at least 100 yards in 16 games, the fourth-highest total in franchise history, behind Barber (38), Morris (19) and Hampton (17). The Giants are 9-7 when Barkley rushes for at least 100 yards (4-0 in 2022).
On Dec. 22, 2019, Barkley set a franchise record with 279 yards from scrimmage (189 rushing and 90 receiving) in an overtime victory at Washington. On Sept. 16, 2018, in just his second career game, Barkley set a franchise record with 14 receptions at Dallas. He went on to lead the NFL with a Giants rookie-record 2,028 yards from scrimmage.
Giants on past "NFL Top 100" lists:
2023: RB Saquon Barkley (No. 31)
2022: DL Leonard Williams (No. 97)
2021: CB James Bradberry (No. 74), DL Leonard Williams (No. 84)
2020: RB Saquon Barkley (No. 31)
2019: RB Saquon Barkley (No. 16)
2018: WR Odell Beckham Jr. (No. 77), S Landon Collins (No. 92)
2017: WR Odell Beckham Jr. (No. 8), S Landon Collins (No. 28), CB Janoris Jenkins (No. 54), DT Damon Harrison (No. 96)
2016: WR Odell Beckham Jr. (No. 10), QB Eli Manning (No. 47)
2015: WR Odell Beckham Jr. (No. 32)
2014: S Antrel Rolle (No. 72)
2013: QB Eli Manning (No. 43), DE Jason Pierre-Paul (No. 55), WR Victor Cruz (No. 58)
2012: DE Jason Pierre-Paul (No. 24), QB Eli Manning (No. 31), WR Victor Cruz (No. 39), DE Justin Tuck (No. 62), WR Hakeem Nicks (No. 90)
2011: DE Justin Tuck (No. 60), S Antrel Rolle (No. 68), G Chris Snee (No. 77)
Take a look through Giants in the "Top 100 Players" over the years.