Talk of Giants running back Saquon Barkley looking like he could return to his old self this offseason has the team optimistic for 2022, and apparently he feels the same way. During an appearance on the Second Wind podcast, the tailback talked about his outlook of the upcoming season and was more than optimistic.
“Do I feel like I’m back? I feel like I’m better, to be completely honest,” he said. “I’m older now, I’m 25. I’ve been through some stuff, you know, ups and downs. Now, I’m in a situation where, you know me, I always have the mindset of always being counted out, but now it’s actually here. It’s actually real. People are really counting me out, people are trying to write me off and I don’t really do it for the pleasure of others or making other people satisfied. I do it because I just wanna be great.”
Barkley was drafted with the No. 2 pick in the 2018 draft and won offensive rookie of the year that season but has struggled in recent years due to injuries. He tallied over 2,000 yards from scrimmage in 2018, but dealt with a high ankle sprain in 2019, tore his ACL the following year and dealt with another ankle injury in 2021. He appeared in 13 games this past season and rushed for 593 yards and two touchdowns.
Despite being injury riddled throughout his young career, ESPN’s Jordan Raanan detailed that Barkley will see a “huge” workload this season.
“Barkley has looked the best he has in years. Both quarterback Daniel Jones and coach Brian Daboll used the word ‘explosive’ to describe what they’ve seen,” Raanan said on Aug. 16. “And it matches what is out there on the field every day. In addition, the strength of the Giants’ offensive line appears to be its run-blocking, Barkley should be more involved in the passing game this season, and there isn’t much depth behind him. So his workload will be huge … as long as he’s healthy. That’s the question: Can you trust him to stay healthy?”
If you ask Barkley, not only will he stay healthy, but he wants to dominate.
“Now, I have the extra motivation,” Barkley continued. “That extra motivation to push me to go out there and kind of just be like, ‘You know what? Shut everyone up.’ Last year was more like, ‘Dang, the game was taken away from me. I never had a season where I didn’t go and play football.’ Now it’s kill mindset. Now it’s like, ‘You know what? F--- everybody.’ Like, I’m ready to go crazy and I’mma let the world feel me.”
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