New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley is one of the shiftiest and most elusive running backs in the NFL. We’ve seen that time and time again in his two years with Big Blue.
But where does he rank among the rest of the talented backs in the NFL in those categories? According to Pro Football Focus, there are six more elusive runners in the league right now.
Barkley was listed behind Cleveland’s Nick Chubb, Josh Jacobs of the Raiders, Tennessee’s Derrick Henry, Alvin Kamara of New Orleans, Minnesota’s Dalvin Cook and Austin Ekeler of the Chargers.
7. SAQUON BARKLEY, NEW YORK GIANTS
If you argued Barkley should be higher on this list, I wouldn’t push back too hard. His 71 total missed tackles forced as a runner and receiver in 2018 were 11 more than any other running back. He was every bit as advertised during that rookie season — a year where he supplemented those broken tackle numbers with over 3.3 rushing yards after contact per attempt and 8.6 yards after the catch per reception. His numbers took a bit of a hit in 2019 as he fought through injuries for much of the year, similar to Kamara, but there is no reason to expect Barkley won’t bounce back in 2020 as one of the best running backs in the NFL.
It’s kind of a silly stat or standard but hey, it’s not a normal time and some of the conversations currently being had online about sports are beyond scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Barkley suffered a high ankle sprain in the Giants’ Week 3 win in Tampa Bay and missed most of that comeback win. He didn’t play again until Week 7 and was basically ineffective until Week 14.
Talent-wise, Barkley is as good, if not better, than the others in front of him on this list. My rule of thumb is simple when it comes to rating players: put your money where your mouth is. Does anyone believe any of the six players rated in front of Barkley will have higher salaries on DraftKings or FanDuel come Week 1 of the regular season? I didn’t think so.
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