Saquon Barkley is back and better than ever. The New York Giants superstar running back has had a tumultuous start to his once-promising carer. After a historic 2018 season that saw Barkley win AP Offensive Rookie of the Year, the 2019-2021 seasons were rather disappointing. Injuries, poor coaching, and many confounding variables have held Saquon back over the course of the past three seasons. But the upcoming 2022 season is a crucial, contract year for the running back. Saquon Barkley feels like he is “better” than ever and ready for a stellar 2022 campaign.
Saquon Barkley preparing for an electric season with the New York Giants
Saquon Barkley has missed 21 of the Giants’ last 49 games. Ankle and knee injuries continued to pile up for the electric halfback. Entering this season, though, Saquon is seemingly healthy and back to his peak form from his rookie season. Barkley has turned heads at practice, looking electric while being used creatively and frequently in the passing game.
Saquon Barkley recently spoke on the “2nd Wind” podcast, shedding light on his mindset entering the 2022 season. Many are expecting Barkley to look better than ever before, and Saquon has those exact expectations for himself, saying, “Do I feel like I’m back? I feel like I’m better, to be completely honest.”
Barkley did not mince words. He was candid, confident, and explicit when discussing his “kill mindset”:
“Now, it’s a kill mindset. Now it’s like, you know what? F—k everybody. I’m ready to go crazy.”
Saquon Barkley on the 2nd Wind podcast via NY Post
Saquon Barkley is ready to go crazy after feeling like the game was taken away from him last year. Barkley said, “Last year was more like, ‘Dang, the game was taken away from me.’ I never had a season where I didn’t go and play football.” But now that Saquon is back and healthy, he is ready to step back onto the field and go for the jugular.
A couple of years of being counted out and doubted are enough to fuel the fire that will push Saquon Barkley to the next level of success this season. Barkley loves proving doubters wrong, and he has an opportunity to do exactly that on a massive scale this season.
“I’m older now, I’m 25. I’ve been through some stuff, ups and downs. Now I’m in a situation where, you know me, I always have the mindset of always being counted out. But now it’s actually here, it’s actually real. People are really counting me out. People are trying to write me off.
Achieving greatness has always been Saquon Barkley’s goal. He wants to be one of the greatest running backs of all time, as many projected he could be coming out of the draft in 2018. As the second overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, expectations have always been high for Saquon Barkley. But he does not play the game to appease the expectations of others, rather, he plays to achieve his own expectations.
“I don’t really do it for the pleasure for others or making other people satisfied. I do it because I just want to be great. But now I have that extra motivation, the extra motivation to push me to go out there and kind of just be like, shut everyone up.”
Many fans have always been critical of Saquon Barkley since he was drafted by the New York Giants. But Barkley is ready to shut those critics up in 2022. The New York Giants’ new coaching staff is building a scheme to maximize the talents of Saquon Barkley. So prepare yourself, because Barkley is back and better than before.