The Saquon Barkley hype continues to build up following his rookie season
Former Penn State running back Saquon Barkley had a majorly impressive rookie season, which has led to a ton of offseason hype for the Giants’ back.
The New York Giants might have a long list of problems heading into the 2019 NFL season, but one thing is for sure — they have one of the best running backs in the game. They garnered a ton of criticism over their selection of Penn State Nittany Lions’ running back, Saquon Barkley. But at the end of the day, they got themselves a potential great one.
It’s been just one season for Barkley in the pros, but anybody who has been paying attention to him knows that he’s been this great far before he made a move to New York.
As Barkley is arguably one of the greatest running backs in Penn State history, it doesn’t come off as a surprise that he’s doing great things at the next level.
We saw the talent first-hand. His ability to take on carries, catch and run, and make defenders miss is what makes the all-around talented back so good.
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Barkley’s highlight tape from college was impressive. And shockingly, his highlights from his rookie season with the New York Giants could be even better. At this point, it’s hard to make a negative comment on the Giants’ decision to bring in Barkley with the second pick. Clearly, he was the best player available, and soon enough, it should pay off. Personally, Barkley fared well in 2018. His team didn’t have much success, but he was able to be named the rookie of the year.
It’s unclear as to whether the Giants will be better in 2019 or not, but one thing is clear about their running back — Saquon Barkley is going to be just as good, if not, better in 2019. And he’s been garnering a ton of hype over the course of the offseason so far.
What’s being said about Saquon Barkley?
The Best first-round draft pick of the decade for the Giants?
As we know, the Giants haven’t quite been a powerhouse over the last decade. Although they have had some Super Bowl success earlier in the 2000s, they haven’t had anything close to a similar outcome in recent years. Therefore, there isn’t much to celebrate in New York. However, Penn State fans can be excited to know that one of their own is considered to be the best pick of the last decade for the New York Giants.
According to Barry Werner of USA Today’s Touchdown Wire, Saquon Barkley holds that crown of being the best first-round draft pick for the Giants in the last decade. That’s quite the nice feat considering they landed Odell Beckham Jr. within the same decade and he happens to be one of the best wideouts in the league. It seems as though leadership and failure to put the team over the top kept Beckham out of the top spot, and placed Barkley in there.
Where does Saquon rank within the Top 100 players of the NFL?
CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco recently put together a Top 100 list of NFL players heading into the 2019 season. To no surprise, Barkley appeared on the list. Although he wasn’t considered to be a top ten player, he was very close. Coming in at No. 11, Barkley found his way onto Prisco’s list debuting quite high on the ranks.
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“He went over 2,000 yards from scrimmage as a rookie, which speaks volumes about how special he is as a player,” Prisco said. “With a year under his belt, I expect more carries and rushing yards this season.” No lies detected here. We saw the progression from Barkley in year two of his college career, so we expect a nice jump from him during his second year in the NFL as well.