New York Giants: At this point, the Saquon Barkley- Sam Darnold debate is ludicrous

By Sam Friedman | Nov 29, 2018

Saquon Barkley. New York Giants (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

The New York Giants and New York Jets both had top five picks in the draft this year which forever ties Saquon Barkley to Sam Darnold. However, that shouldn’t be the case.

Going into the season, New York Giants fans were rightfully displeased with the Giant’s choice of Saquon Barkley over a quarterback like Sam Darnold.

Baker Mayfield was already off the board, but when that pick transpired, it seemed like a reach. In hindsight, we all look pretty dumb for doubting Mayfield.

Anyway, the argument, however, was that the Giants made a huge mistake in not going after Sam Darnold, who many pegged as the most talented of the five quarterbacks taken in the first round (Josh Rosen, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson being the other three).

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The Jets ended up taking Darnold with the third overall pick, one spot after Barkley.

Now, no matter what happens, their careers will be compared throughout their tenures in New York.

Also, whether those comparisons are fair or not, is a completely different question. One player is amazing and not getting talked about enough, one has been forgettable.

Let’s start with the latter.

Sam Darnold has been arguably the worst of the five quarterbacks selected in the first round.

In Week 14 vs. Buffalo, in a rookie vs. rookie matchup with Josh Allen, Darnold will return and can avenge this point a little bit with a win.

There are no true playoff implications for this game, but still interesting to see these two young guns duke it out.

Darnold has been ranks 2nd to last in the NFL in QBR at 32.2.

He is 33/34 in eligible quarterbacks in completion percentage.

He has thrown just 11 touchdowns, one more than Jameis Winston who has started just 4 games. Despite missing two games, Darnold leads the NFL with 14 interceptions.

This has been a problem with Darnold since college.

He throws a lot of interceptions. His first NFL pass was a pick 6. Right now, for the Giants perspective, it’s impossible to say that Darnold would’ve been a better pick than Barkley.

Rarely do athletes live up to the hype that Barkley had surrounding him.

He has surpassed these expectations and looks like the most important piece of the Giants offense.

Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram all take a back seat to Barkley.

Here are Barkley’s stats so far this season:

4th in NFL in rushing yards (829 yards)
6th in longest rush of the season (68 yards)
7th most receptions in the league (yes, this includes some receivers) players he has more catches then:
He is 3rd overall in yards from scrimmage, trailing only Todd Gurley and Ezekiel Elliott

Barkley has been the most consistent offensive player for the Giants.

Next. What in the world are the Knicks doing?. dark

Despite a brutal offensive line, Barkley has still gets the job done. Barkley > Darnold, always and forever.

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