Healthy again, Saquon Barkley spearheads Giants’ attack

It’s been three seasons since Saquon Barkley last played with confidence. And if his Week 1 showing is any indication, it’s well justified.

Indeed, the New York Giants’ star running back had a tough row to hoe in 2020 and 2021 after bursting onto the NFL scene in 2018 with a franchise rookie record 1,307 yards in 2018 and following that up with a 1,003-yard season in 2019.

But in Week 2 of 2020, the Giants’ 2018 first round pick out of Penn State grabbed the back of his knee after being hauled down on a running play and was immediately carted off the field. The diagnosis – a torn ACL, the type of injury no runner wants.

He missed the remainder of that year and returned in 2021 a mere shell of himself. Not confident in the repaired knee and also hampered by an ankle injury, Barkley ran for only 563 yards in 13 games before being placed in the NFL’s COVID-19 protocol.

But in training camp of 2022, he showed up a different player. He ran hard and with confidence, thus catching the attention of his teammates and coaches. So when he ran for 164 yards and a touchdown, and caught six passes for 30 yards in the G-Men’s 21-20 comeback win over the Titans in the season opener, no one around the team was surprised.

“He ran hard like he has all camp,” Giants head coach Brian Daboll said.

“He brought it straight to the game field,” added wide receiver Sterling Shepard. “I’m happy and so proud of him because he’s been working his a... off.”

Certainly he’s a key part of the New York attack and that will be on display the morning of Sunday, Oct. 9, when Barkley and the Giants clash with the Green Bay Packers at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a game airing on NFL Network.