When considering the current top players in the NFL, the New York Giants are usually seldom on that list, at least over the last few seasons. The only player that is in that conversation is running back Saquon Barkley, and PFF, who released their top 50 players left him off of it.
Lol PFF doesn’t think Saquon Barkley is a top 50 player ?? pic.twitter.com/DilmGZ5h8X
— Alex Wilson (@AlexWilsonESM) June 6, 2020
The first five on the list are Aaron Donald, Patrick Mahomes, Julio Jones, Quenton Nelson, and George Kittle, five high profile players that deserve to be in the top 10, let alone the top 50. But somehow, players like Anthony Harris of the Minnesota Vikings and T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers, rank in the top 30, and Barkley isn’t even in the top 50.
You could make the argument that evaluating his stats might leave him off the list, since a high ankle sprain limited him to 13 games in 2019, just barely logging 1,000 yards on the ground and cutting his touchdown totals in half.
However, that argument is invalid since Derwin James, who ranks at 31, played in just five games last season, which was his second year in the NFL, just like Saquon Barkley. So, we can assume that they didn’t penalize him for missed games or a small sample size. It seems like an average of his game by game production was a significant factor in this top 50 list.
Nonetheless, Barkley is one of the best players in the league, and rightfully deserves to be recognized as such. In his rookie season, he posted 1,307 rushing yards and 721 receiving yards, tallying 15 touchdowns, turning the ball over 0 times. He won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award and was coined one of the most explosive running backs in football, yet PFF believes he’s not a top-50 player.
At this point, it seems as if an obvious bias is being applied or they’re earning revenue during tumultuous times off an angry fan-base that’s overwhelmed by inadequacy.