The New York Giants have been searching for a consistent rushing attack for this entire decade. After 2010, the Giants have finished in the top 15 in total rushing yards just once. 2017 saw the Giants finish 26th in the league in total rushing yards, a slight improvement over their 29th-placed finish in 2016. Even in their Super Bowl Championship season in 2011, the Giants were dead last in the NFL in yards per attempt and yards per game. With the second pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, new Giants GM Dave Gettelman has decided to answer the question definitively by selecting star running back Saquon Barkley out of Penn State.
Standing at 6 feet and 233 pounds, Barkley is a punishing runner with excellent speed and vision. NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein lists his NFL comparison as Barry Sanders, a claim that is backed up when viewing his best highlights with Penn State. Barkley was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in 2016 and 2017, scoring 36 rushing touchdowns and 7 receiving touchdowns.
As if the world needed more proof he is a special talent, he also had two kickoff return touchdowns. Barkley had 1,898 yards from scrimmage in 2016, a total that he improved on with 1,903 in 2017. Impressively, Barkley actually had 29 fewer plays to work with in 2017, meaning his yards per play increased from 6.3 to 7.0 in 2017.
The Giants needed to start rebuilding somewhere after a disastrous 3-13 season in 2017. After firing longtime GM Jerry Reese and head coach Bob McAdoo, the Giants hired former Carolina Panthers GM Dave Gettelman and Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur to reset the franchise. Many speculated on whether the Giants needed to take a young quarterback like Sam Darnold or Josh Rosen with the No. 2 pick to replace franchise stalwart Eli Manning. However, the Giants were linked to Barkley in early April as the Giants clearly moved to address another concern rather than pay a huge price to find Eli Manning’s replacement. Statistically and physically, Barkley is a blue-chip running back, and given the Giants’ complete inability to field a rushing attack, drafting the best talent available at the position is a defensible decision.
Criticisms of the pick stem from the NFL’s trend away from spending high draft picks on running backs when productive players have been found in the later rounds and even in the undrafted free agent pool. Alvin Kamara and Kareem Hunt, two of last year’s star backs, were both taken in the third round last year. But taking a consensus choice at running back hasn’t panned out too badly either—just look at Leonard Fournette and Todd Gurley. With Barkley’s physical tools and his statistical reputation as a dynamite pass-catcher and a rusher, the Giants should have a good pick at No. 2, even if the value isn’t quite what some expect.