When the New York Giants selected Penn State running back Saquon Barkley second overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, general manager Dave Gettleman claimed he got the best football player in the draft.
For one year, he was right. Barkley was Superman. He did things we hadn’t seen done in the NFL in years. But there were naysayers across the landscape that warned that the honeymoon could be short. Running backs are highly vulnerable and many times go boom before they go bust.
That could be the case for Barkley here in 2019. He was perhaps the best all-around back in the NFL in 2018. It’s 2019 now and Barkley has been trying to battle his way back from a high ankle sprain and an offense that has no identity and no direction.
Barkley’s numbers this season aren’t bowling anyone over anymore and his penchant for breaking the big play and shedding tacklers is less prevalent.
Last season, Barkley averaged 5.0 yards per carry. This season, he’s under four at 3.9. He is closer to himself in the passing game, where he’s averaging 7.4 yards per reception as opposed to 7.9 last season. In 2018, he was targeted 7.6 times per game. That number has been reduced to 6.1 per contest.
Barkley is averaging just 57.6 total yards per game, down from 81.7 last year. His average yards per touch is down nearly a yard per attempt. But more importantly, Barkley hasn’t looked like the same player since the injury. He appears to lack the explosiveness he had as a rookie and has lost his elusiveness.
This could be related to the injury, which many (present company included) believe he returned too early from. But it could be more than that. Barkley hasn’t had a staple game since returning. And he seems to be going backwards.
Over the past three games, Barkley has rushed the football 44 times for just 88 yards. That is not what Gettleman had in mind on Draft Day 2018. In the receiving game, Barkley has caught 16 passes for 98 yards the past three weeks — hardly inspiring.
Meanwhile, the 2018 draft class has more than caught up to him. No one is talking about Barkley’s heroics any longer and the Giants are dead in the water again at 2-9.
Lamar Jackson is playing at another level. Sam Darnold, finally healthy, is making a push with the Jets in the second half of the season. So is Baker Mayfield. Josh Allen is leading the Bills to the playoffs. Minkah Fitzpatrick in doing the same in Pittsburgh.
Not to say the Giants would have — or should have — taken any of those players over Barkley last year but it has become frustrating to watch as he struggles while they all surge.
Much of this is not his fault. The Giants are a horrible team stuck in a loop of losing, devoid of talent with poor leadership and even worse coaching. It’s unfortunate Barkley is becoming the face of this mess.
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