Just How Great Has Saquon Barkley Been For The New York Giants?

The New York Giants are in the middle of another lost season. Through twelve weeks, the Giants are a measly 3-8. The team has not shown much improvement from last year’s disastrous campaign. However, this disappointing season has come with one awesome silver lining in the backfield. That silver lining goes by the name of Saquon Barkley.

Saquon Barkley Has Delivered On High Expectations:

Running back Saquon Barkley was drafted by the Giants with the second overall picks in this year’s draft. The Giants took Barkley ahead of notable quarterback prospects Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen. This decision was considered widely controversial all offseason.

While some may still say they should have taken a quarterback, no one will deny the fact that the Giants got the best player in the draft with Barkley. He had high expectations going into the season due to where he was drafted. Through eleven games, Saquon has surpassed these expectations by putting up an incredible 1,410 yards from scrimmage with ten total touchdowns. Barkley is also averaging an impressive 4.8 yards per carry. He is also fourth in the league in rushing yards with a total of 829 yards.

This is especially impressive when you consider he is only receiving 15.5 rushing attempts per game. This means that, in theory, if Barkley received as many attempts per game as the league’s leading rusher Ezekiel Elliot (19.7 a/g), he would have 1,040 yards, just 35 yards shy of the league lead. Perhaps the most impressive statistic of them all is that Barkley has a total of zero fumbles on the season. This is an incredible statistic considering he is only a rookie. The rookie out of Penn State also leads all rookies in the league in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.

The Human Highlight Machine:

Playing in a big market like New York, it was expected that Barkley’s play would be put under a microscope. Every highlight would get more attention, and so would every mistake. However, there has not been many mistakes, but there has been plenty of highlights. Saquon has four touchdowns of 50+ yards already, including this beauty from Sunday’s most recent loss in Philadelphia:

Barkley has proven he can also be a serious receiving threat out of the backfield with four receiving touchdowns so far this season (also check out how he flew about fifteen feet through the air at the end of this one):

If those plays were not enough to wow you yet, just try to count how many defenders Barkley makes miss on this screen pass:

Barkley has played an almost perfect season of football so far for the Giants. From breaking rookie records to creating historic highlights, Saquon has proven he will be one of the best backs in the league for years to come. His play so far this season has solidified him as the top candidate for offensive rookie of the year.