Barkley’s injury shouldn’t doom the Giants’ offense
A peculiar scene unfolded in the Giants’ locker room. When the team opened its doors Wednesday after the first practice for this Sunday’s game against the Redskins, a throng of reporters crowded in front of Wayne Gallman’s locker.
That’s because Saquon Barkley, arguably the most dynamic running back in the NFL, suddenly is out for four-to-eight weeks after suffering a highankle sprain in last Sunday’s 32-31 win at Tampa Bay.
“It’s unfortunate for my brother to go out, but this is what I’ve prepared for,” Gallman said. “This is what I have been preparing for, so I’m ready for it.”
But here’s the funny thing: How much will it really matter now that the Giants have a mobile quarterback capable of extending plays and scrambling for yards with his feet?
Daniel Jones’ debut was so good that he completed 80 percent of pass attempts when pressured by the defense for 233 yards, two touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 passer rating, according to EstablishTheRun. com. He’s the first quarterback to have a perfect rating with at least 12 pressured pass attempts since Pro Football Focus launched in 2007.
And the Giants’ 18-point second-half comeback came entirely without Barkley, who rushed for a career-low 10 yards on eight carries before leaving with 2:15 left in the second quarter. No running game, no problem for Jones, who totaled 364 yards and four touchdowns against Todd Bowles’ much-improved Tampa defense.
Jones will next attack a Washington defense against which opposing quarterbacks have completed 79 percent of their passes for a passer rating of 122.2.
It’s also worth noting that one-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Golden Tate will return from his PED suspension next week.
“I certainly hate to lose (Barkley), but I’m very confident in Wayne stepping up,” Jones said. “He’s done a great job through the season and I know he’ll play well. We have full confidence. We have a lot of playmakers all over the field, so I don’t think it really changes anyone’s job, necessarily. I think we are confident in who we have.”
Nothing we’ve witnessed from Jones these past few months suggests last week’s performance was a fluke. He showed poise under pressure and made decisive reads into tight windows, which bodes well for a 22-year-old. The Giants very well may have their quarterback of the future — and a mighty good one at that.
That doesn’t mean Jones will be this good every week. He’s a rookie who’s going to struggle at times; he got away with a near pick-six last Sunday and fumbled twice. And Barkley’s presence forces defenses to sell out against the run sometimes. Still: It’s fair to wonder if the offense can stay relatively productive and efficient for however long Barkley is out.
Dynamic quarterback play is everything in the NFL these days. Eli Manning’s inability to move in the pocket and push the ball down the field, combined with sloppy line play, is what held the Giants’ offense back the past two seasons. Jones averaged 9.3 yards per pass attempt in Tampa. Manning did that only four times last season, and zero times in 2017.
Meanwhile, Barkley led the league with 2,028 all-purpose yards as a rookie. But the Giants lost four of the seven games where Barkley rushed for at least 100 yards. His career-best 229-yard day (99 receiving yards) against the Eagles resulted in a 34-13 loss. And in Weeks 1 and 2 of this season he topped the century mark while averaging 7.8 yards per carry, yet the Giants lost those games by a combined 32 points.
That’s not an indictment of Barkley. He’s a terrific player who has largely been failed by his quarterback and the defense since he arrived in New York as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He has eight rushes of at least 40 yards since the start of last season, while no other player in the league has more than four.
I wrote two weeks ago that the Giants needed to give Barkley more touches. But that was when Manning was still playing, the passing attack was inept and defenses had yet to show a pulse when trying to stop Barkley in his tracks.
The point here is that passing still drives the bus in the NFL. For as good as Barkley is, and he might be in a class of his own at his position, there’s a reason why teams typically don’t allocate high draft capital on running backs. They’re relatively injury prone, are largely a product of the offensive line in front of them and ultimately contribute less to winning than passing does.
Only one of the past 10 Super Bowl champions featured a rusher who ranked in the top 10 in yards per attempt. That would be Pierre Thomas, who ranked fourth with 5.4 for the 2009 Saints.
Given the Giants’ improved offensive line play this year, they should be able to get sufficient production out of Gallman, a third-year pro who has played in 31 games while averaging 4 yards on 169 carries.
“He does a good job of getting it up in the hole,” head coach Pat Shurmur said. “He has good collision balance. He’s improved catching the football. He’s pretty good with our pass protection. He’s a good all-around player, and he’s going to be asked to do more.”