By Anthony Cardone
The Giants opener on Sunday was one to forget. The Jaguars shut New York’s offense down, allowing them to score only 15 points. However, there was a bright spot: the Giants’ second overall draft pick, former Penn State running back Saquon Barkley.
Barkley was off to a slow start, rushing for just 38 yards in the first three quarters. But with 10:51 left in the fourth quarter, Barkley squeezed through Jaguar defenders to break down the sideline for his first NFL touchdown, a 68 yarder. He finished with 106 yards on 18 carries. He also hauled in 22 yards receiving, for a total of 128 yards in his NFL debut. Not bad for a rook!
It still wasn’t enough, though, and you can’t really blame the loss on the 21-year-old. The Giants lost in “old-fashioned Giants form” by muffing a punt with 54 seconds left to turn it over and lose the game. Saquon had a solid debut for a running back, and based on his time as a Nittany Lion, no one was very surprised.
That being said, there were definitely some questions going through the minds of Giants fans after the loss on Sunday: “Was Saquon the right choice?” “Should we have drafted a quarterback?” “How much does quarterback Eli Manning have left in him?” While Manning didn’t have the worst game of his life and was facing a top-tier defense, his struggles only served to magnify the questions surrounding the decision to draft a running back over one of the numerous quarterbacks available.
Every quarterback was still on the board except for Baker Mayfield, who was taken by the Browns with the first pick. The Giants did take a quarterback in Kyle Lauletta in the fourth round, but there were players like Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, all fourth-round picks who could be franchise quarterbacks down the line. Manning has shown a decline in recent years, and he’s not getting any younger.
The volume of these questions will only amplify if Sam Darnold continues to play like he did on Monday night in the Jets’ 48-17 win over the Lions. While he started his career with a pick six on national television, he finished 16 of 21 with 198 yards and two touchdowns. With Darnold playing for the Giants’ stadiummate, any success he has is going to be held against the Giants as a sign of what could have been.
Unquestionably, no team wants to match up against Barkley’s talent, but can he turn around a struggling offense? And, looking at the bigger picture, could he take them to the postseason and bring a title back to New York? Or will the Giants regret passing up potentially elite quarterbacks and look back at the 2018 NFL Draft in disgust? While everything may all work out, the Giants could end up sharing a stadium with their biggest draft regret.
