2020 has to be a bounce back year for Saquon Barkley. The Giants put their faith in Barkley being the player to turn the franchise around when they drafted him with the second overall pick, and in his rookie season, he showed a lot of signs of being just that, with his dominant performances bringing him into contention for the rushing title despite his lack of experience.
His second year, however, had a much slower start – Barkley struggled with injury and wasn’t at his best until the season was winding down and the Giants were already far removed from playoff contention. The Giants can’t afford the same start from Barkley this year and Barkley himself is taking a different approach to avoid the same fate.
“Work. Work Smart,” Barkley told ESPN when speaking about his new plans and what that involved. “Start early. I took off last year. I’m not taking off this year.”
“Even if you go take a trip, work. Not just relax. Sometimes it’s good to relax your mind, but no, it’s not an all-or-nothing approach. … I’m not going to be squatting 700 pounds. Or running 40s out there. But be smart with your training. Just get to it a lot earlier than what I did last year,” Barkley elaborated further.
Despite talk of Barkley potentially being a one season wonder thanks to some of his worst games from last season, the last part of the 2019 season did show that he can get back to his previous heights – hopefully, different training plans will help Barkley to perform that way for the entire year in 2020, as one of the key members of the offense.