New York Giants: Saquon Barkley’s great start marred by stuff beyond his control
By Sam Friedman
We are two weeks into the New York Giants season and the Saquon Barkley selection in the Draft is already being being questioned because of things beyond his control.
We all need to breath and relax, Saquon Barkley is barely into his New York Giants career and there are already doubts?
I’ve never lived outside of New York for an extended period of time, so I typically understand how this market and us fans roll.
But do all states, and their respective fan bases, have panic attacks when any of their rookies do or do not do well?
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It doesn’t even matter the sport, the New York fans that I have grown up with can’t take anything at face value.
Saquon Barkley and Sam Darnold, for example, just started to play professional football, and the comparisons being thrown around about them are breath-taking.
It is easy to call Barkley a cross between Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith. But, how can any one live up to those standards?
The kid has amazed so far, showing off a range of skills, not a lot of running backs possess.
He caught 14 passes last game, which is an amazing stat for such a young player. 14 catches for 80 yards doesn’t look so good on the stat sheet, but the situations of each catch is what made them important.
Barkley has gone over 100 scrimmage yards in both of the Giants’ games this year, is top 10 in the league in that category, and looks like he is the centerpiece for this Giants offense that aslo includes Odell Beckham Jr., Evan Engram and Sterling Shepard.
Also, what is the Sam Darnold and Saquon Barkley debate?
Circling back to my original point, I‘ve been reading articles, two weeks into the season, that say the Giants made a mistake in not taking Darnold.
Eli Manning is certainly past his prime, but the quarterback play isn’t the problem with the Giants. If you put any rookie quarterback behind this offensive line, they would be horrendous.
Darnold, already nicknamed “Broadway Sam” and “the savior of the Jets”, but come on, where is the realism with our expectations, and opinions?
Darnold has been fine, and seems to be a huge building block for the Jets’ future.
I’m just not ready to put Darnold ahead of Barkley and compare them their whole careers!
Barkley is the best running back prospect since Adrian Peterson. I’m not ready to throw that away, because he still has time to live up to it and meet all these expectations.
Darnold has looked good too, but not like a godsend. He and Barkley’s competition will never stop due to their draft position.
Next. It is time for the Giants to replace Eli Manning. dark
But, we all need to stop with all these comparisons. Take Barkley for how he is and how he plays only. Believing in all this outside stuff he cannot control will only lead to an unfair judgement of how his career will go.