Saquon Barkley is a running back currently caught between two quarterback eras. Not that he minds.
He spent his rookie season with the Giants taking handoffs and catching passes from Eli Manning, and that's likely how he'll begin his second. At some point, though, whether it be this season or afterward, Daniel Jones will be handling those duties. And if things go according to the way the Giants are mapping them out for the long term, Barkley's best and brightest and most prolific days with the Giants will likely come alongside Jones and not Manning.
Which is why Barkley is excited _ "really excited," he said _ to have Jones on the team, even if he probably won't be on the field at first.
"I got to talk to Daniel Jones before the draft process and before the combine," Barkley told Newsday after a Giants OTA practice this week. "And then when they drafted him, obviously everyone knew we would probably address the quarterback situation this year, so I was happy for him. The first thing I said to him was: 'Everyone is going to say what they want to say, you just come in here and be ready to work. You don't have to prove anybody wrong, the only people you have to prove yourself to is the people in this locker room. I'm excited for him. He's doing a great job out here."
But isn't it a conflict to be simultaneously anticipating the Jones future while living in the Manning present? Does it feel like cheating on Manning?
"No, man!" Barkley said incredulously.
In fact, Barkley said he's taking an approach to Manning's presence similar to the one that Jones is. He's trying to absorb as much knowledge and wisdom as he can while the 38-year-old Manning is still around.
"My mindset is to come to work every single day and get better every single day, take advantage of it all," Barkley said. "I'm grateful to have a teammate like Eli. He's a two-time Super Bowl MVP, a great player and a great teammate, very smart, so every single day I try to take advantage and learn from him. It's not hard to stay in the moment. It's football. That's how it happens."
Eventually, though, that moment will pass. And Manning will yield his starting quarterback job to Jones.
It's football. That's how it happens.
When it does, Barkley will almost certainly be the running back who links the two. Manning will hand the torch to Jones, but they'll both be handing the football to Barkley.
Barkley and Jones have the same goal for their Giants careers: Super Bowls. Until last month's draft, whenever Barkley daydreamed about winning one, it was with Manning as the quarterback. Now, he can start to visualize another scenario, another quarterback. They can't play together just yet, but Barkley and Jones, two 22-year-olds who were drafted at second and sixth overall respectively, figure to be the cornerstones of whatever offensive and team success the Giants have in the coming decade.
"He's doing really well," Barkley said of Jones' play thus far. "He throws the ball really well. He's smart, he's understanding when and where to get the ball out already. I think that's key."
Another key is less concrete.
"He has come out here and is getting more confident every day," Barkley said. "That is the thing, just get confidence. You get so worked up because this is the NFL and it is so different, but it really isn't. Obviously, the quarterback position is different, but once he understands the playbook, you can see it already, he is a competitor. You can see the look in his eyes that he wants to get better every single day.
"My advice to him is that this is football," Barkley said. "Just come in here and work. Whenever the opportunity presents itself, be 100% ready."
Barkley, it seems, will be ready for it, too.
