How Saquon Barkley has flipped the script for NFL running backs

The notion that a Super Bowl contender should make a substantial investment in a running back was dead. And Saquon Barkley held a shovel.

If the most gifted running back of his generation, one “touched by the hand of God,” couldn’t change the fortunes of a franchise, who could?

Though the decline of the position’s importance predates Barkley’s arrival to the NFL — only one running back since 2007 has been named MVP (Adrian Peterson, 2012) after seven running backs won the award the 16 seasons prior — there has been no running back taken in the top-five of the NFL draft since Barkley was taken No. 2 in 2018. In five of the past six drafts, no running back has been selected inside the top 20.

This season, no running back was among the 100 highest-paid players in the league, with running back holding the lowest franchise tag price ($11.95 million) of any position besides kicker and punter.