2 SAQUON’S QUITE THE CATCH

Everyone knows Saquon Barkley, 21, is talented, but what head coach Pat Shurmur identified as most important to him is Barkley’s ability to catch the football and be a reliable receiver. And that’s what I’ll be watching this weekend when No. 26 is on the field. Minnesota RB Jerick McKinnon, who signed a monster free agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers this offseason, had 68 targets (4.3 per game) last season on Shurmur’s Vikings offense, ranking 13th in the entire NFL among running backs, per fantasypros.com. And McKinnon was sharing snaps much more often with the likes of Dalvin Cook and Latavius Murray than Barkley likely will be this season. With Shane Vereen gone, Barkley and Wayne Gallman likely will assume most if not all of Manning’s targets to backs (Paul Perkins was waived on Thursday with a non-football injury). Barkley had 102 catches for 1,195 yards (11.7 average) and eight receiving TDs in three seasons at Penn State. He had 54 grabs for 632 yards (11.7 avg) and three of those TDs in his third and final year. Now he’ll have to do it in the NFL.