2 Eagles leading Pro Bowl fan voting at their positions in NFC

2 Eagles leading Pro Bowl fan voting at their positions in NFC originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

A couple weeks into Pro Bowl fan voting, two Eagles players are leading fan voting in the NFC at their respective positions:

RB: Saquon Barkley

LB: Zack Baun

Not only is Barkley leading all NFC running backs but he’s the second-leading vote-getter in the NFL behind just Lamar Jackson. And he’s right on his heels; Jackson has 82,402 and Barkley has 82,082.

This has been a magical season for Barkley, who broke the Eagles’ single-season franchise rushing record in Sunday’s win. Through 13 games, Barkley already has 1,623 rushing yards and is on pace to break Eric Dickerson’s NFL record.

Barkley, 27, is also firmly in the MVP conversation.

While Barkley’s story is a cool one — joining a division rival and showing the value of running backs — it wasn’t completely unexpected for him to have a Pro Bowl season. After all, he was the No. 2 overall pick in 2018 and has been a Pro Bowler twice before.

Baun, though? This is a guy who was mostly a special teamer in New Orleans. And when the Eagles signed him in March, most thought he would be a situational edge rusher.

Instead, Baun has been a dynamic inside linebacker. Give Vic Fangio credit for seeing this potential in the 27-year-old.

In 13 games this season, Baun has 129 combined tackles, 3 1/2 sacks, 9 TFLs, 5 QB hits and 4 forced fumbles. He has arguably been the best player on the best defense in the NFL.

While Barkley and Baun are the only two players leading their respective position groups in the conference, plenty of other Eagles are getting votes. The Eagles are fourth in the entire league in votes by team.

The fan vote counts as 1/3 of the total count for the Pro Bowl. The other 2/3 are from player and coach voting. Players and coaches will cast their ballots on Dec. 27.

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