I have worked for the Giants since 2007, and there is no new player that fans have been more excited to see don a uniform for the first time than Saquon Barkley. The second overall pick in the draft was one of the most exciting and explosive players in college football last year and the Giants hopes he can be the same for them. Here's what I saw from Barkley over the course of OTA's and minicamp from my view on the sidelines.
He has excellent hands. Barkley dropped only one or two passes through the entire offseason program.
He runs more than just checkdown routes. Sure, we saw Barkley catch some short passes in the flat after the quarterback couldn't find anyone down the field, but he did a lot more than that. We saw circle and wheel routes out of the backfield when he simply blew by linebackers in coverage.
He runs more than just checkdown routes. Sure, we saw Barkley catch some short passes in the flat after the quarterback couldn't find anyone down the field, but he did a lot more than that. We saw circle and wheel routes out of the backfield when he simply blew by linebackers in coverage.
Barkley didn't just run routes from the backfield either. He, and the other running backs as well, were motioned out or lined up outside as receivers to try to get matchups favorable to offense and read the opposing defense.
Linebackers, even the best ones, will have no chance of covering Barkley one on one. He is too good of a route runner, and changes direction far too quickly for any linebacker to have a shot at stopping him. Safeties might even struggle in coverage against him.
Without defenders out there trying to tackle Barkley, there isn't a whole lot you can see from him as a runner or his style. As Dave Gettleman said after the draft, he has the feet of a small guy but the size of a big guy. He is very bouncy off his feet as he runs, and you can see his shiftiness.
Everything everyone said about Barkley as a person coming out of Penn State appears to be accurate. He is always smiling, works hard, and seems like a very nice respectful young man. He certainly fits the bill as a prototypical "New York Giant".
How He'll Be Used: I would be surprised if he wasn't the team's primary running back getting 75% of the snaps at the start of the regular season. I think he will also be the team's primary third down back, with his rest coming in early downs and in short yardage situations.
Production Guess: 270 carries, 1190 rushing yards, 4.4 avg, 6 rushing TD's, 68 catches, 675 yards, 4 TD's
