Saquon Barkley Receives Franchise Tag

Saquon Barkley chose a good time to have a career renaissance. After battling injuries for most of the past three seasons, the Penn State product stayed healthy throughout 2022 and returned to looking like one of the top talents in the game. Starting and appearing in 16 regular season games, the running back finished the year with 1,312 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on 295 carries (4.4 YPC) to go along with 57 receptions for 338 yards on 76 targets. The Giants, a perennial underachiever, made it to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, and Barkley’s performance was a big reason for that success.

Barkley originally entered the NFL as the second-overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Selected by the New York Giants, Barkley was widely considered to be a generational prospect, and he played up to that billing right out of the gate. As a rookie, the Penn State product recorded 1,307 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on 261 carries (5.0 YPC) to go along with 91 receptions for 721 yards and four touchdowns on 121 targets. He earned a Pro Bowl selection for his impressive season, and the future appeared bright for the transcendent talent.

Unfortunately, injuries limited Barkley’s overall ceiling for the next few seasons. Barkley suffered an ankle injury in 2019 that limited him to just 13 games, and even when he returned, he clearly was not 100%. Still, while on the field, Barkley found a way to rush for 1,003 yards and six touchdowns on 217 carries while adding an additional 52 receptions for 438 yards and four touchdowns through the air.

Sadly, that wasn’t the end of Barkley’s experience with the injury bug. The running back only played two games in 2020 thanks to an ACL injury, and he only played 13 games in 2021. Over that two-year span, Barkley averaged just 3.5 yards per carry on 181 rushing attempts.

Main Photo: Eric Hartline – USA Today Sports