It didn’t take very long for Saquon Barkley to be named a captain in the New York Giants offense. The sophomore running back had a legendary rookie season in 2018 and competed with the top backs in the league for the rushing title, and quickly proved that the Giants made the right choice by taking him over others including current Jets quarterback Sam Darnold.
Earlier in the week, Barkley was named a captain for his efforts, in only his second year in the league and with the Giants. What did Barkley think about the accomplishment?
“It means everything. It’s awesome to be a captain for my team and for them to vote for me, especially being a young player in my second year. But at the end of the day, captain or not, I wasn’t going to change. Just because I’ve got a ‘C’ on my chest, I’m not going to act out of myself,” Barkley said about the subject this Thursday.
“I’m just going to continue to try to keep the same mindset and continue to try to do the little things right, and encourage and push my teammates, and push myself, and try to be the best teammate I can be for my team,” Barkley added.
Barkley will, of course, be more of a key player this season after the Giants shipped away Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns. Golden Tate will also be suspended for the first four games, including the season opener against the Dallas Cowboys.
Being a captain, though, isn’t something that Barkley is inexperienced in after helping the Penn State Nittany Lions in their program’s turnaround to national contention. Barkley already helped to lead a team to a turnaround once, and it could happen again this season in the NFL with the Giants depending on how things go.
And with 1,307 rushing yards from Barkley last season, Giants fans may just have a good reason to believe such a turnaround is possible – starting with the team’s opener against the Cowboys.