New York Giants: Saquon Barkley should be the Rookie of the Year
By Alex Jordan
New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley is a finalist for Rookie of the Year. He should be the 2018 Rookie of the Year.
The NFL announced the five finalists for the 2018 Pepsi Rookie of the Year award on Thursday and unsurprisingly, New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley made the list.
Barkley, Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb, Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard, and Denver Broncos running back Phillip Lindsey are the five finalists.
So who should be the Rookie of the Year?
The answer is obviously Barkley.
He had a record-breaking year and deserves to be Rookie of the Year.
Barkley led the NFL with 2,028 scrimmage yards (1,307 rushing, 721 receiving), joining Eric Dickerson and Edgerrin James as the only rookies with at least 2,000 scrimmage yards in NFL history.
He had 91 catches, which is an NFL record for rookie running backs and ties Odell Beckham Jr.’s franchise record for rookies, and 15 touchdowns.
This season, Barkley led the Giants in rushing and receiving and set some franchise records.
He set the franchise rookie record for rushing, 100-yard rushing games(seven), games with 100 yards from scrimmage(13, which ties Dickerson’s NFL record) and total touchdowns (15).
Barkley also made the Pro Bowl and was the top rookie in NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah’s list of the top 25 rookies of 2018.
Despite the success Saquon wasn’t satisfied with his 2018 season. He told Michael Eisen of GIants.com:
"“Honestly, wish we can get started right away. It’s going to suck staying home watching the playoffs, and knowing that you’re not in there and wanting to be in there. But that’s also going to motivate you to work harder, work extra and push yourself to be a better player for your team next year so that next year you’re not home watching the playoffs. I would love to get going right away, but this is my first time having an NFL offseason, so I want to make sure I do this right.”"
He added:
"Most important thing that I’ll take into this offseason is try to do a little extra with workouts, with reps, with on-field stuff. Finish, finish better. I’m a big believer in what you do in the offseason, what you do in the weight room and what you do in your workouts translates to the field. The biggest thing, I think, that we weren’t able to do as a team this year is not finish out games. I don’t know what the stat is – eight, seven, six, how many games we lost by seven points or fewer (it was eight, the most by any NFL team). Obviously, that’s just the nature of the game and the nature of the NFL and how close games are going to be.”"
Saquon, you should be happy with the season you had because you were the highlight of the Giants season.
Work on being better and maybe next year you’ll win the rushing title that you want to have.
dark. Next. Where did the Giants land on the latest EWB Power Rankings?
Barkley had the best season of the five finalists for rookie of the year, so he should be the Rookie of the Year.