"I came away LESS impressed with the future first-round pick than I was going in.
And yet, Barkley didn’t show me anything I didn’t already know he could do. What he did show me was a guy who was visibly worn out early and often. The offense leaned on him and he nearly fell over, asking to be taken out in the middle of a series a number of times (and I’m not talking about following big runs). I suppose that’s something that will work itself out when he is focused solely on football.
But the other thing that really stood out to me was how few hits he took. I guess you can say that’s a talent, but I’m not thinking about avoiding the big shots like some wily veteran. I’m talking about noticeably shying away from contact, jumping out of bounds instead of taking on a would-be tackler, falling to the ground in open space instead of fighting for extra yardage. Barkley is an incredibly gifted athlete and is put together as well as any back I’ve seen up close, but the way he finished his runs Saturday was completely shocking to me. If Akrum Wadley can lower a shoulder and tack on an extra yard or two as he races down the sideline, I don’t understand why Saquon Barkley is anxiously hopping out of bounds before anyone gets within a yard of him. That’s not at all what I expected and it’s the only thing from his game that stands out to me as a negative."
