Saquon Barkley

Barkley's dynamic rookie season increasingly seems like a fading dream that you have trouble remembering when you awake. The 25-year-old missed four more games last season, this time with an ankle injury, and when he was in the lineup he was mostly ineffective, managing a paltry 3.7 yards per carry. Before you blame that performance on the inept offense around him, consider that Devontae Booker posted 4.1 YPC on similar volume for the Giants. Barkley was simply a shadow of his former self, displaying little of the power, speed or elusiveness that made him such a threat a few years ago. It's possible another year removed from ACL surgery will allow him to regain those traits, and his one 100-yard game last year came in Week 17, but it's just as possible that version of Barkley is gone forever. The Giants haven't given up on him, and the team once again rebuilt its offensive line this offseason, with formers Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll coming in as head coach and bringing center Jon Feliciano over with him from Buffalo in addition to signing veteran guard Mark Glowinski and drafting OT Evan Neal (first round) and OG Joshua Ezeudu (third round).

For the second consecutive season, Barkley dealt with a lower-body injury, but in 2020 it was far more devastating, as he blew out his right knee Week 2 and missed the rest of the campaign after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL. The promise he showed in his dazzling rookie season is beginning to fade in the rearview mirror, but when he's healthy, Barkley should still be a dynamic three-down back who can break off a long gain with any given touch. Assuming he's 100 percent healthy for the start of the season, he should slot back in as the only game in town in the Giants backfield, but that role may not come with the same volume he saw in 2018. The team expended significant resources in the offseason to bolster its passing game by signing wide receiver Kenny Golladay, which suggests more responsibility will be put on Daniel Jones' arm to move the chains. On the other hand, Jason Garrett is still offensive coordinator, and his track record suggests he's quite content to ride his bell-cow back as much as he can. Getting Nate Solder back at left tackle after he opted out of 2020 will also help bolster the team's offensive line, a unit that has been a weak spot on the roster throughout Barkley's career. There's no denying his upside, but the 24-year-old carries a lot of questions heading into the season. He spent the first two weeks of training camp on the PUP list and hasn't been willing to comment on Week 1 expectations, but he did return to live practice Aug. 26, about two and a half weeks before the opener.

A September ankle injury cost Barkley any chance of repeating his phenomenal rookie numbers, but when he was fully healthy he proved that his 2018 production was no fluke. Arguably the greatest big-play threat in the league, Barkley averaged 5.2 yards a carry in the six games following the Giants' bye to close out the season, and despite only being in top shape for about half the year he still recorded five gains of at least 40 yards while finishing eighth in rushing yards after contact (605). At 5-11, 233, Barkley's unreal blend of power, speed, elusiveness and receiving skill is basically unparalleled, but he's needed every ounce of that talent working behind an offensive line that was awful in 2018, and merely below average last season. With No. 4 overall pick Andrew Thomas boosting the O-line and QB Daniel Jones potentially improving, Barkley might finally have a supporting cast worthy of his talent. New OC Jason Garrett knows how to feed a bell cow from his days in Dallas - Ezekiel Elliott has averaged nearly three more touches per game than Barkley in their respective careers - so volume should not be an issue. Don't be surprised if Saquon's rookie production ends up being his baseline rather than his ceiling.

While the debate still rages over whether it's ever worth taking a running back with a top-5 draft pick in the modern NFL, Barkley could hardly have done more to make the case for his position. The second overall pick in 2018 became just the third rookie to eclipse 2,000 scrimmage yards (joining Eric Dickerson and Edgerrin James) while breaking Reggie Bush's rookie record for catches by a running back. In fact, Barkley's 91 catches tied Odell Beckham Jr.'s franchise record by a rookie, to say nothing of all the other Giants records he set. His unreal blend of power, elusiveness and wheels (at 21.91 mph Barkley recorded the third-fastest speed of any 2018 rushing TD) makes him the top big-play threat in the league. His seven runs of 40-plus yards were the most since Adrian Peterson had eight in 2012, and Barkley and Randy Moss are the only players in NFL history to score five TDs of 50-plus yards in their debut campaigns. Barkley could see more stacked fronts this season with the team's quarterback play potentially hitting rock bottom (he faced eight-man fronts on just 23 percent of his carries last season), but an improved offensive line will help mitigate the impact, and the Giants still have a decent receiving corps even without Beckham. The bottom line is simple: in terms of his production floor and ceiling, Barkley can't be touched.

The second overall pick in the 2018 draft, Barkley follows in the footsteps of Ezekiel Elliott and Leonard Fournette as running backs deemed worthy of top-five selections in recent years. Barkley has the skills to live up to that billing, as his standout career at Penn State was punctuated by frequent highlight-reel performances. Barkley's speed - a 4.4 40 at the combine - and top-shelf elusiveness and agility make it extremely difficult for defenders once he finds open real estate. At 6-0, 233, Barkley is a load to bring down, and his strong lower body allows him to pick up plenty of yards after contact, though he struggled at times running between the tackles. He also worked hard to turn himself into a three-down back who can help as a receiver and a pass protector, something the Giants needed to prioritize given their aging quarterback and shaky offensive line. The team did remake its line in the offseason, signing Nate Solder and Patrick Omameh as free agents and using a second-round pick on guard Will Hernandez, so Barkley should be able to use his moves to avoid hits two yards past the line of scrimmage instead of two yards behind it. Expect him to see a big workload as the new centerpiece of the Giants offense.