When the New York Giants selected Penn State running back Saquon Barkley with the second overall selection in e 2018 NFL draft, most experts panned the pick.
They claimed no running back was worth that high a selection in this day and age of passing offenses and running-back-by-committee approaches. Poor positional value they said.
But Dave Gettleman, the Giants’ general manager at the time, wasn’t fazed. He said things like Barkley was a ‘gold-jacket guy’ and was ‘touched by the hand of God.’
In Year 1, Gettleman appeared to be right. Barkley had a record-setting year and was named the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2018.
So, where does Barkley stand on the recent list by the folks at Pro Football Network of the Top 12 Running Back Draft Prospects of All Time?
Eighth, as it turns out, wedged in between Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson at No. 9 and this year’s latest model, Texas’ Bijan Robinson, who is ranked seventh.
Running backs don’t go in the top three in the modern NFL era. It just doesn’t happen — but Saquon Barkley broke the mold in the 2018 NFL Draft when the Giants famously took him with the second overall pick. Barkley had a lot to live up to after a collegiate career that saw him rack up 5,038 total yards from scrimmage and 51 touchdowns in just three years, but he’s lived up to the hype in spite of a torn ACL suffered in 2020.
In every single facet, Barkley was a rare physical specimen and a sight to behold. At 5’11”, 233 pounds, Barkley brought the frame density and domineering play strength of a fullback through contact. And yet, he ran at a 4.4 pace when he had space, and his elite explosiveness was documented by his 41″ vertical. RBs simply aren’t supposed to run and bend the way Barkley did at his size, and that unique raw talent and combined creative capacity and physicality is what set him apart.
Barkley has overcome his injury issues to return to the pantheon of great backs after a Pro Bowl showing in 2022 but his Giants career lies in the balance at the moment as he and the team are embroiled in a contract dispute.
For the record, Bo Jackson was the top-ranked player on the list followed by Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson, Edgerrin James, LaDanian Tomlinson and Reggie Bush.
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