The New York Giants don’t have a ton of stars this season, but they definitely have one major one at a very important position – that would be Saquon Barkley at running back, and while the second year player was criminally underrated in the NFL Top 100, Barkley might just be the one MVP contender that the team has this season in addition to being the frontrunner for running backs in general this year.
There’s been a decent amount of talk from a number of different sources since Barkley’s rookie season that Barkley is the best running back in the league. Barkley has more recently, however, come out and stated that he believes those statements are true and that he is the best at the position. Why? Well, Barkley elaborated on that.
“You got to believe that you’re one of the best, and that’s what I personally believe. But I do have tremendous respect for all the guys out there, especially the Gurleys and Le’Veon and the Zekes of the world, Alvin [Kamara], Christian [McCaffrey] — there’s so many I could list off,” Barkley said at an NFL Network event on Tuesday.
“Why do I think I’m the best back in the league? That’s just how I was raised to believe. When I do something and I’m passionate about something I’m going to go 100 percent at it so when you stick me out there I’m capable of doing anything you want a running back to do and I think I can do it at a high level. That’s why I think I’m the best back in the league. That’s my personal opinion. Everyone can have their other opinions and I respect your opinions,” Barkley continued.
Last season, Barkley managed to finish with 1,307 rushing yards and was in the hunt for the league’s rushing title until the very last week, eventually finishing second despite having status as a rookie in 2018.
Will Barkley top that total this season and lay claim to the title of best in the league? That depends on a number of factors but upgrades on the offensive line might just be an important factor when the regular season arrives – it remains to be seen how well that redesigned offensive line will hold up in the regular season, but with one more preseason game left, we’ll find that out soon enough as August turns to September and the regular season begins.