Saquon Barkley's rookie season compares with the all-time greats
He set the New York Giants rookie rushing record in Sunday's 30-27 overtime win over the Chicago Bears when he passed Tuffy Leemans' previous mark of 830 yards. That was a record that stood for 82 years.
The Giants’ rookie touchdown and reception records are next. Barkley needs one more score to top Odell Beckham Jr. and Billy Paschal at 12 touchdowns and 17 catches to move even with Beckham, more than reasonable with four games left this season. It would be a surprise if he didn’t get both of those before all is said and done.
Not that it's anything he is really thinking about.cheap nfl nike jerseys from china
"Not really. You're just so stuck in the moment, stuck in the season, trying to get better every single day," Barkley said after finishing with 125 yards rushing against the Bears' second-ranked rush defense.
The No. 2 overall pick maintains an unassuming approach in the face of incredible statistical success. It doesn't matter that he has three 50-yard touchdown runs this season and the Giants had three in the previous 10 years. Or that he's the first rookie with three touchdown runs of 50 or more since Minnesota's Adrian Peterson in 2007. Barkley can best one of his idols when the Giants play Peterson and the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field on Sunday.cheap nike nfl jerseys wholesale
Barkley could become the first player in NFL history with 100 total yards from scrimmage in 11 of his first 12 career games. Eric Dickerson did it in 10 of his first 11 during a rookie campaign in 1983 that is among the greatest of all time.
This is the elite company Barkley is keeping. He's in rookie conversations with Dickerson, Peterson and Ezekiel Elliott. His rookie numbers are better overall than the likes of Barry Sanders and LaDainian Tomlinson. Heck, all-time greats such as Jim Brown and Walter Payton didn't even hit their full stride until Year 2.
Barkley did it from his first run of the preseason (39 yards against the Cleveland Browns) and is still going. He's third in the NFL in rushing with 954 yards, second among running backs with 74 catches and 602 receiving yards, third in yards from scrimmage with 1,556, behind only Todd Gurley II and Elliott.
