A closer look at the 2K Club with newest member Saquon Barkley

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley made history on Sunday afternoon when he reached 2,000 rushing yards in the 2024 season.

With one game left in the 17-game regular season, Barkley is 101 yards away from breaking Eric Dickerson’s all-time rushing record of 2,105 but the Eagles are locked into the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and have bigger team goals to worry about.

But just reaching 2,000 yards is quite an accomplishment that has been achieved by just nine players in NFL history.

O.J. Simpson broke the 2,000-yard barrier in 1973 in just 14 games and that mark wasn’t touched again until Dickerson did it in 1984 in a 16-game season. It wasn’t hit again after that until 1997.

Here’s a look at the top nine rushing seasons in NFL history — a list that now includes Barkley’s 2024 season:

1. Eric Dickerson (1984) — 2,105

16 games, 379 attempts (5.6), 131.6 yards per game, 14 TDs

Dickerson was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1983 draft and had his record-breaking season in Year 2 of his career after putting up over 1,800 rushing yards yards as a rookie. Dickerson needed 15 games to break O.J. Simpson’s record and then added more in the 16th game. In addition to having two extra games, Dickerson also had 47 more attempts than Simpson. After 1984, Dickerson’s next beset season came in 1986, when he rushed for 1,821 yards. He’s the only player in NFL history with three seasons of 1,800+ rushing yards.

Even though Dickerson set the rushing record in 1984, he was not the Offensive Player of the Year; that award and the MVP went to Dan Marino, who became the first player to throw for over 5,000 yards in a season — a milestone that wasn’t reached again until 2008. Dickerson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999.

2. Adrian Peterson (2012) — 2,097

16 games, 348 attempts (6.0), 131.1 yards per game, 12 TDs

Peterson was in his sixth NFL season when he broke the 2,000 yard barrier. The closest he got before or after that was his second NFL season in 2008, when he rushed for 1,760 yards. The crazy thing about Peterson’s season in 2012 was that he got off to a slow start, rushing for over 100 yards just once in his first six games. After that, he went over 100 in 9 of the 10 remaining games and went over 150 yards seven times.

In the final week of the 2012 season, Peterson got 199 yards on a season-high 34 attempts to break the 2K mark. He was named the Offensive Player of the Year in 2012. Peterson hasn’t played since the 2021 season and will become Hall of Fame eligible in 2027.

3. Jamal Lewis (2003) — 2,066

16 games, 387 attempts (5.3), 129.1 yards per game, 14 TDs

In his NFL career, Lewis went over 1,000 rushing yards seven times but 2003, when he went over 2,000, was his only Pro Bowl season and his only All-Pro season. He was also named the Offensive Player of the Year. In 2003, Lewis had a strong final quarter of the season going for 180, 125, 205 and 114 in the final four games. His best performance of the season came in Week 2 against the Browns when he went for 295 yards on the ground to break Corey Dillon’s single-game rushing record. Peterson ended up breaking that in 2007 with a 296-yard game.

Lewis missed the entire 2001 season but had over 1,300 yards in 2000 and 2002 before going over 2,000 in 2003. He reached 1,300 one more time in 2007.

4. Barry Sanders (1997) — 2,053

16 games, 335 attempts (6.1), 128.3 yards per game, 11 TDs

Sanders had led the NFL in rushing three times before 1997 but finally broke the 2,000-yard mark in the ninth season of his 10-year career. Sanders also set the all-time record for scrimmage yards in 1997 with 2,358, which has been broken five times since. Sanders in 1997 got off to an incredibly slow start, rushing for just 33 yards and 20 yards in the first two games of the season. But he went over 100 yards in each of the final 14 games.

He entered the final game of the regular season 131 yards shy of 2,000 and had 23 carries for 184 yards. Sanders was named the MVP and Offensive Player of the Year in 1997. Sanders, who was a Pro Bowler in all 10 of his NFL seasons, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004 at the age of 36.

5. Derrick Henry (2020) — 2,027

16 games, 378 attempts (5.4), 126.7 yards per game, 17 TDs

King Henry was the most recent addition to the 2K Club before Barkley this season and Henry is second in the NFL behind Barkley in rushing in 2024. Back in 2020, Henry as a first-team All-Pro and the Offensive Player of the Year. Henry entered Week 17 in 2020 needing 223 yards to reach 2,000 for the season and he put together a 250-yard rushing performance on 34 carries in the Titans win over the Texans. But against the Ravens in the playoffs, Henry had just 40 rushing yards as the Titans made a quick exit.

6. Terrell Davis (1998) — 2,008

16 games, 392 attempts (5.1), 125.5 yards per game, 21 TDs

Davis had a short but great NFL career and his 1998 season was his best. Not only did he was he named the Offensive Player of the Year in 1998 but he was also the MVP and helped the Broncos win their second straight Super Bowl. Davis rushed for over 100 yards in all three playoff games, including Super Bowl XXXIII. As for breaking the 2,000-yard mark in the regular season, Davis entered the final week of the season needing 170 yards. He got 178 on 29 carries in that game. After 1998, Davis was plagued by injuries and played in just 17 more games and totaled just 1,194 more yards. Davis’s peak was short but it was good enough to get him inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017.

7. Chris Johnson (2009) — 2,006

16 games, 358 attempts (5.6), 125.4 yards per game, 14 TDs

After the Titans took Johnson in the first round in 2008, he had his best season in Year 2 when he broke the 2,000-yard rushing mark. Johnson’s big claim to fame is that he also had 503 receiving yards that season. His 2,509 scrimmage yards in 2009 are still an NFL record, topping the 2,429 season from Marshall Faulk in 1999. As far as rushing goes, Johnson actually got off to a slow start in 2009. He had a 197-yard performance in Week 2 but went over 100 yards just once in his first five games. But he followed that with 11 straight games with 100+. He entered the final game of the season needing 128 yards and got 134 yards on a career-high 36 attempts. He was the Offensive Player of the Year in 2009. Johnson had four more 1,000-yard seasons with the Titans before finishing his career with the Jets and Cardinals.

8. Saquon Barkley (2024) — 2,005

16 games, 345 attempts (5.8), 125.3 yards per game, 13 TDs

This is Barkley’s seventh NFL season but his first with the Eagles after spending his first six with the Giants. Barkley is the only member of the 2K Club who got there with a different team than the one that drafted him. Barkley’s 2024 started in São Paulo with a 109-yard game against the Packers and he has gone over 100 yards in 11 of 16 games. Barkley is the first player to break the 2,000-yard mark during the 17-game schedule era but he still did it in 16 games. His best performance came in Los Angeles, when he rushed for 255 yards on 26 carries on Nov. 24. The Eagles have the No. 2 seed wrapped up with one game remaining in the regular season. Barkley is just 101 yards away from breaking Dickerson’s record but the Eagles will probably elect to rest him for the playoffs. 

9. O.J. Simpson (1973) — 2,003

14 games, 332 attempts (6.0), 143.1 yards per game, 12 TDs

Simpson was the first running back to break the 2,000-yard mark and he did it in a 14-game season; his average yards per game is still the highest on this list. The Bills drafted Simpson first-overall in 1969 and his best season came in the fifth year of his career. Before Simpson’s 1973 season, the NFL rushing record was held by Jim Brown, who rushed for 1,863 in 1963. That’s still the 14th-best rushing season in NFL history and Brown had the top three rushing seasons in history before Simpson came along. Simpson in ’73 was named the MVP and Offensive Player of the Year. After his 2,000-yard season, Simpson had three more 1,000-yard seasons and went over 1,800 in 1975. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985. Simpson, who became infamous after his playing career, died earlier this year.

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