Saquon Barkley labeled as Penn State football’s best player of the decade
Would you consider former Penn State football running back Saquon Barkley the best Lions player of the last decade?
The Penn State football community hasn’t quite seen a running back like Saquon Barkley in a long time when he came onto the scene in Happy Valley. As a true freshman in 2015, the four-star Pennsylvania product appeared in 11 games for the Lions. He averaged an impressive 5.9 yards-per-carry, totaling for 1,076 yards off of 182 attempts.
Barkley’s productive Freshman season made him the no-brainer number one back during his Sophomore effort. We thought we saw his best in 2015, but the young up and coming star developed into a one of a kind, do it all type back. With an opportunity to take on a full-time role in 14 games, Barkley established himself as one of the nation’s best.
During his Sophomore year, Barkley finished with 1,496 yards and 18 rushing touchdowns. In the receiving game, he totaled for an additional 402 yards and four touchdowns. Barkley decided to return to PSU for a Junior season, to increase his stock. While his rushing totals saw a bit of a dip, he still managed to rush for over 1,200 yards, and produced 632 yards in the receiving game. In total, Barkley wrapped up his college career with over 5,000 total yards and 51 TDs.
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After an impressive three-year stint in Happy Valley, there’s no question that Saquon Barkley will go down as one of the best Nittany Lions of all time. But looking back at the last decade of Lions football, could Barkley be considered the best player for the Lions in the previous ten years?
Is Barkley the best of the decade?
247 Sports’ Austin Nivision used the projected Top-25 teams to list the college’s in order from one to 25. Then, he decided to list that specific school’s best player of the last decade. Penn State came in hot on the list at ten, and the selection just so happened to be running back, Saquon Barkley. Here’s Nivision’s take away on the selection:
"“Saquon Barkley was the epitome of the modern running back while at Penn State. The dynamic Barkley was explosive and elusive after taking the hand-off, but he could also handle himself in the passing game. Barkley totaled 1,195 passing yards as a Nittany Lion and was an incredible weapon for James Franklin’s offense.”"
It’s hard to disagree here. Barkley has been dubbed as a ‘generational talent’ throughout the entirety of his college career, and his flashes made him the second-overall pick a year ago. While the three teams that Barkley played on at Penn State had well-rounded rosters, it’s difficult to assume they would be as successful as they were without Barkley.
Who might some honorable mentions be? Well, the obvious choice here would be Barkley’s quarterback at the time, Trace McSorley. He’s the All-Time passing leader at PSU in terms of yards and touchdowns. Plus, he was a threat in the run game as well, totaling for 1,600 yards on the ground during his four-year stint.
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And who knows what would’ve happened if Christian Hackenberg remained on board for his Senior season. Perhaps, he could be in the conversation as well. Another offensive weapon who made quite the name for himself at PSU was Allen Robinson. Then, on the defensive side of the ball, two players who must be considered are Sean Lee and NaVorro Bowman. There’s no definitive answer, but all mentioned canidates could very well be in the conversation.