How good is New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley? We here in New York know, but the rest of the football world is about to find out.
Barkley burst on the scene in 2018 with a historic season only to have his follow-up campaign ruined by a high ankle sprain that took him off the NFL radar. But Barkley is about to reclaim his status as one of the league’s top backs.
In a recent poll of the top running backs in the NFL by Pro Football Network’s Matt Williamson, Barkley placed second, in-between the machine-like Christian McCaffrey of Carolina and Dallas’ Ezekiel Elliott, a two-time NFL rushing leader.
“There hasn’t been a better running back prospect coming out of college than Barkley, who is an absolute freak specimen,’ writes Williamson. “Many consider 2019 a down season for Barkley. But this gets overlooked – Barkley racked up 539 yards from scrimmage over his final three games in 2019 after finally getting healthy from his high ankle sprain. However, one area the Barkley simply must improve in that isn’t brought up enough is pass protection. He can be an all-time great and a top running back for years to come.”
The Giants are counting on it. Barkley is going to be the “bell cow” back for this team, touching the football close to 400 times between rushes and receptions.
As a rookie, Barkley had 352 touches for 2,028 total yards. Last year, he had just 269 touches for 1,441 yards in 13 games. This season, expect to see the 2018 version of Barkley, with an eye on reclaiming his total yards from scrimmage title from McCaffrey.