Running back Saquon Barkley has been named the No. 1 player on the NFL’s Top 100 Players of 2025 list, marking a first for the Philadelphia Eagles. The announcement was made Monday night, following Barkley’s standout debut season with the team.
Barkley, who was also recognized as the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year, is now one of nine Eagles featured in this year’s rankings. Other Eagles on the list include Jalen Hurts (No. 19), Lane Johnson (No. 23), Zack Baun (No. 26), A.J. Brown (No. 29), Jalen Carter (No. 43), Quinyon Mitchell (No. 49), Cooper DeJean (No. 60), and Jordan Mailata (No. 69).
NFL Films Senior Producer Shannon Furman informed Barkley of his top ranking during an interview at his home in June. Furman, a Penn State graduate and longtime collaborator with Barkley since his college days, assembled the same crew that covered Barkley’s draft night in Dallas when he was selected No. 2 overall.
“The Top 100 list is always a little controversial, but it’s fun for us here at Films. Some guys love it. Some guys hate it. They don’t understand how it could possibly work and whatnot. Saquon is a player who’s always respected this list,” said Furman, who will be directing Hard Knocks: In Season featuring all four NFC East teams later this year.
“He was very stoic. He just had this big smile on his face and was just like, ‘This is a great way to start this interview.’ He told me after it ended, ‘If I wasn’t going to be top 10 on this list, I was going to kick you out of my house.'”
This marks Barkley’s fifth appearance on the Top 100 list; he previously ranked as high as No. 16 after his rookie campaign but had not reached the top spot until now.
Barkley’s achievements over the past season included winning the Super Bowl with Philadelphia and becoming only the ninth player in league history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a single season—finishing with an eighth-best total of 2,005 yards—and setting an NFL record for most rushing yards in a single season including playoffs at 2,504 yards.
He also set records for seven rushing touchdowns of more than sixty yards in one season and broke franchise records for rushing yards both in a regular-season game (255) and playoff game (205). His reverse hurdle play has become widely recognized and will appear on the cover of Madden NFL 26.
