Giants GM says top draft pick has been 'touched by hand of God'
Saquon Barkley went second overall to the New York Giants in the NFL draft Thursday after the top pick sent Baker Mayfield to the Cleveland Browns.
And even though Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and the rest of the most highly touted quarterback class since 1999 were still on the board, Giants general manager Dave Gettleman was elated that his top choice was right there for the taking.
Gettleman believes 37-year-old Eli Manning has at least one more Super Bowl run left in him, and getting him some help in the backfield with a man the Giants called “the best player in the draft” led the GM to consider no trade offers when his team was on the clock.
Gettleman was effusive in his praise, speaking of his can’t-miss football prospect in terms usually reserved for basketball players like LeBron James or Shaquille O’Neal, guys who can single-handedly change the course of an entire team’s history.
Said Gettleman of the Penn State standout, “I haven’t seen a guy like this in a long time, and I’ve been running around doing this for 30-plus years. … He is the unanimous best player in the draft. It’s like he was touched by the hand of God, frankly.”
Clearly, Barkley wasn’t unanimously the best, or Cleveland would have taken him and grabbed its quarterback with the fourth pick (which the Browns used on cornerback Denzel Ward in an effort to shore up their defense alongside their offense after going 0-16 in 2017).
But Gettleman wasn’t keen on a quarterback in any event; not only is he committed to rolling with Manning for at least the short-term future, but he even said, “If you have to make yourself fall in love with a guy, you’re making a mistake.”
Gettleman seems to think that Barkley is a one-of-a-kind talent, as when asked to find a comparable NFL player to Barkley in terms of speed, size and athleticism, Gettleman came up snake eyes and said, “Ask Ernie,” referring to former Giants GM Ernie Accorsi.
Accorsi, when asked, said via the New York Daily News, “I’ve thought about that the past few months. I’ve seen backs with the same power and one-step acceleration. I’ve seen backs with the same sprinter’s speed to beat a defensive back who had the angle on them. I’ve seen backs who are great receivers. I can’t think of a back who had all those qualities.”
So Bo Jackson from Tecmo Bowl, then. Someone call EA Sports, they’re going to need to redraw the player rating scale in Madden.
Barkley rushed for 3,843 yards in 38 games at Penn State, averaging 5.7 yards per carry on his way to 43 touchdowns. He caught 102 passes for 1,195 yards and eight scores, and even took two of his 15 kickoff returns to the house. The guy’s got talent on top of talent.
But drafting a running back in the first round in the modern NFL, where the passing game is king, is a monumental risk.
The Giants are counting on the presence of Manning and an excellent receiving corps that missed plenty of games in 2017 due to injury, hoping that their single lost season just gifted them the draft pick that will take them from worst to first in the NFC.
Gettleman once again gave a shout-out to Accorsi when talking about the pick.
“Ernie and I have talked about it a lot — he’s a touchdown maker,” Gettleman said. “He is a threat to take it to the house every time he gets his hands on the ball.”
Barkley, who was born in the Bronx and raised about two hours away in Coplay, Pennsylvania, and whose girlfriend just gave birth to their daughter Tuesday, was happy to be in New York.
“It’s honestly incredible,” Barkley said. “It’s amazing, to be blessed with an opportunity in fatherhood, be able to have a beautiful daughter, and be able to raise her and try to set an example and standard for her in how she should be treated by men and how she should follow her life.
“But then to put the icing and cherry on top, to get drafted to New York and the New York Giants. How this franchise is known for the four Super Bowl championships, and to be able to come home. This is the place I was born. I was born in New York, I was born in the Bronx, and I’m not far from home anyway. I’m only like an hour 45 away from Lehigh Valley, and I’m just happy I’m able to stay close and play for such a prestigious franchise.”
Giants coach Pat Shurmur was much more parsimonious with his words, saying only, “This guy can do everything.”
The conventional wisdom in today’s NFL is never draft a running back in the first round.
If Barkley pans out and delivers on his promise as a modern do-everything back, that conventional wisdom is going to look foolish.
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