Penn State running back Saquon Barkley became an instant household name when the New York Giants selected him the second overall in the 2018 NFL Draft in Arlington, Texas.
Two years later, Barkley is like every other NFL player these days — sitting at home trying to work through and participate in his team’s “virtual” offseason.
Barkley has not gotten a chance to rub elbows with his new head coach, Joe Judge, and incoming offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.
“We haven’t had a ton of opportunities to interact,” Barkley said in an interview with Draft Wire’s Justin Melo. “We’ve all been stuck at home. So far, I’m very impressed with both of them. I love their attitude and what they plan on bringing to the organization. I’ve appreciated how they’ve conducted themselves. It sucks that we can’t all be together right now, but I’m very excited to work with both of those guys in the near future.”
Barkley is naturally a big booster for the Nittany Lions. He was asked if there were any players coming out of State College that NFL fans should focus on during this weekend’s draft.
“We have a couple of guys you need to watch out for,” he said. “One that jumps off the tape, of course, is (wide receiver) K.J. Hamler. That’s an amazing player right there. He’s explosive and super fast. He’s quick and he has great hands. He has a lot of heart. I’m so excited to see where he goes. We have some talented guys at Penn State. Hopefully everything works out and we can all get back to playing football sooner rather than later.”
Giants general manager Dave Gettleman risked his reputation when he chose Barkley second overall two years ago. Many felt taking a running back that high in the draft was a thing of the past and that the game had passed Gettleman by.
This past week, with scouts, coaches and executives set to handle the draft remotely, a photo emerged of Gettleman sitting behind his desk, with just one small computer screen, and leaning on a large volume assumed to be his draft notes. Social media naturally began to throw shade at the 69-year-old.
“I’ve seen some of that on social media. I don’t really know,” laughed Barkley when asked if Gettleman is really a tech genius and is fooling everyone. “He drafted Daniel Jones and I. I think he’s done a great job so far with all of his draft picks.”
Barkley came into the NFL and just took off, winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year and leading the NFL in total yards from scrimmage with 2,028. It wasn’t all roses, though. He took his hits. He recalled the hardest hit that he took, and it was from one of the league’s hardest hitters.
“J.J. Watt,” said Barkley, citing the Houston Texans’ All-Pro defensive end. “He got me pretty good (laughs). It was within the first few weeks of my rookie season. It was definitely a ‘welcome to the NFL’ moment for me. I remember it well.”
