Barkley set high bar for second season
Odell Beckham Jr. is gone, now searching for attention in Cleveland. Manning, the veteran quarterback entering his 16th season, is still here.
But no matter. Barkley has been seen as more vocal in practices this summer, but always staying in his lane, never overstepping and always striking the right balance.
“I’ve definitely asserted myself in more of a leadership role,’’ Barkley said. “That’s the beauty of sports, and especially the beauty of football: You don’t just need one leader. It’s not like when I’m saying I’m asserting myself into that role that I’m the leader of the New York Giants. There’s multiple of us, we all lead in different ways.
“I’m trying to find my way to lead, and a way that I believe is going to help the team.’’
You cannot state it any better than Barkley did right there, and this was not lip service.
Giants head coach Pat Shurmur said the most obvious difference in Barkley 2.0 is “there’s just a little bit more confidence in what he can expect to see from his teammates, coaches and the way we function.’’
“He’s a Year 2 guy, and usually, for talented people that work hard at what they do, you can see an improvement between Year 1 and Year 2. Sometimes it’s their biggest improvement.’’
When Shurmur was asked if it would be difficult for Barkley — who set the bar so high so quickly — to better what he did last season as an encore, he said: “Maybe for some guys that will rest on their laurels, but I don’t see that in Saquon. He’s a guy that’s just trying to get better every day.’’ And so he is. Future Hall of Fame running back Adrian Peterson told USA Today in a story published Friday that Barkley is “the best back to come into the NFL since I came into the NFL,” adding, “As far as potential and going forward, I think he will end up being the best back to play the game.”
Those are powerful words from a running back who’s eighth on the all-time career rushing list with more than 13,000 yards.
“Obviously, the production was really good,’’ offensive coordinator Mike Shula said Friday of Barkley’s rookie year. “Selfishly, we want to have the same production, but in different ways. Some of those yards last year were maybe because we were behind. We want to have that production when we have the lead, or the games are close, that’s where we want to be each and every week.’’ Winning. And it’s difficult not to believe Barkley will be a big part of leading the way.