New York Giants: Saquon Barkley once again shows his class

The New York Giants couldn’t have struck any more gold if they tried with running back sensation Saquon Barkley. The 2018 second overall pick was as close to a sure-thing as you can get in the NFL Draft, and the Giants didn’t hesitate to select him.

With several franchise-caliber quarterbacks on the board, new general manager Dave Gettleman knew Barkley was the selection no matter what passer was on the board. Gettleman went as far as to say he was the best physical specimen he’s seen in the last 30 years.

Up to this point, his judgment has proved to be right, as Barkley collected over 2,000 All-Purpose yards in his rookie campaign joining an elite group of running backs to reach that feat in their first season.

Statistics don’t mean anything to Saqoun, he has other priorities in mind for the New York Giants:

“I think I can be a lot better. And not just by stats — I think that’s where a lot of people get confused. For me, it’s not about stats,” Barkley told ESPN on Friday. “I break it down like this — why have 3,000 yards and go 5-11? What does that really mean? What did you really do for your team?

Finishing last season with a 5-11 record didn’t sit right with Barkley, who hasn’t experienced losing at that rate in quite some time. The NFL is a different beast, you need the whole team to operate at a high level to win, and while Barkley produced as much as he possibly could, the rest of the team didn’t.

“I would love to have the most yards in the league and beat [Ezekiel Elliott] and beat [Todd Gurley] and all that. That’s how I am, that’s how I operate. But at the end of the day, I end up with the most all-purpose yards and we didn’t make the playoffs.”

“I’d rather have 1,200 yards or 1,400 yards and less touchdowns, and [Sterling Shepard] goes for 1,000, [Evan Engram] goes for 1,000 and Golden Tate goes for 1,000 and we’re 13-3 or 11-5 at the end of the year and competing for a championship.”

Have you ever seen a more humble player in your life? He’s the epitome of a leader and a team player. That’s the attitude Gettleman wanted on the Giants and for the new face of the franchise. Drafting Daniel Jones caught headlines and attention, but the real hero here will always be Saquon Barkley.