Saquon Barkley is a big fan of running backs, especially top guys like Christian McCaffrey.

Will he sneak a peek or two Sunday when the 49ers’ offense is out there?

“I’ll be lying if I said not for a guy like Christian,” Barkley said with a laugh.

Barkley and McCaffery are two of the NFL’s best. Since 2018, Derrick Henry has the most scrimmage yards among running backs, and McCaffrey and Barkley are next.

McCaffrey netted 2,126 scrimmage yards this year to Barkley’s 1,413. But Barkley had the 2,000-yard rushing season last year and won a Super Bowl.

Barkley said he and McCaffrey are competitive no matter what they’re doing.

“We shot a commercial together this offseason,” he said. “You know, it always starts off cool, and then somehow, some way, we’re competing. Like, one time in the Pro Bowl, it was Connect Four. I remember after the commercial, I’m on my phone, we’re texting, and we’re going against each other in chess. I won, by the way. 

“So anytime you go against a guy who’s such a great back, future Hall of Famer in my opinion, you definitely want to win.”

Barkley said he was hoping McCaffrey would become the first back with two seasons with 1,000 yards rushing and receiving, but he fell 76 receiving yards short.

“Him and Marshall (Faulk) and Roger Craig are the only ones to do it once, and he would have been the first ever to do it twice. 

“My rookie year, at one point I had 500 and 500, and I remember Zeke (Elliott) texting me saying, ‘Go get the thousand thousand.’ And I was like, interesting. I wonder who has it. I didn’t end up getting it. I had like 13 and 700.”

Spoken like a true fan of running backs. 

“Yeah, it’s guys like him, Derrick, Bijon (Robinson), Jonathan Taylor, Bucky Irving, I know he was banged up this year,” he said. “Guys like that, I’m a big fan of all of them.”

Especially McCaffrey, the eighth pick in 2017, one year before Barkley was the second pick in 2018. 

Among active players who’ve played at least three playoff games, Barkley has the highest average of scrimmage yards per game at 127.8, Henry is second at 121.4 and McCaffrey third at 119.8. 

They are truly among the best in the business.

“I think Christian is a great back,” Barkley said. “I’m a fan of the position. I’ve studied all of them. And my hat’s off to him. He’s one of the best to ever do it, to be completely honest. 

“And definitely going to be a challenge for our defense. But our defense is definitely up for the task. As a fan of the game, you’re definitely going to be watching and seeing what he’s doing. 

“There’s nothing he can’t do. He can run the ball.  He can catch the ball. Literally, he’s an all-purpose back, probably one of the best all-purpose backs to ever do it. I don’t know if he’s better than Marshall (Faulk) yet. He’s getting there. 

“Big fan of him, and we’re good friends. So we have a little connection. A little competitive side when we go against each other. So hopefully that comes out this week.

“But I can’t stop him. He can’t stop me. But you want to go out there and win, especially against a guy like that.”

Barkley said winning the Super Bowl last year only made him hungrier to go out and try to win another one.

“I think you become locked in even more when you know what it feels like to hold a Lombardi Trophy and you know what it feels like to have that parade and fight and crawl and do anything you can to have that again,” he said.

“You’ll do anything to win it all again. So I think that makes you a little more focused. 

“We’re excited. We’re excited that we get a home game, one guaranteed home game, and go make the most of it. Go out there and perform, play at a high level, and ultimately win and move on to the next round.”