Denver Broncos: Let’s draft Saquon Barkley

With the regular season winding down, it’s time to start getting ready for the NFL Draft. Let’s take a look at what Saquon Barkley has to offer.

Saquon Barkley is one of the most polarizing running backs to ever play collegiate football. He is considered the best running back in next year’s draft class and he has enough talent to completely transform an entire offense at the NFL level.

Barkley broke out during his initial freshman season at Penn State, rushing for 1,076 yards and seven touchdowns while catching 20 passes for 161 yards and one touchdown. His best game of the season came against Ohio State where he rushed for 194 yards against one of the top defenses in the nation. At the end of the season, he received True Freshman All-American honors and The Big Ten Freshman of the Year Award.

The following season he rushed for 1,496 yards and 18 touchdowns while catching 28 passes for 402 yards and four touchdowns. He eclipsed the 100-yard mark five times during his sophomore season. His efforts helped lead Penn State to a Big Ten Championship.

So far this season, Barkley has rushed for 1,134 yards and 16 touchdowns while catching 47 passes for 594 yards and three touchdowns. He surpassed the 100-yard mark four times this year. His best game came against Nebraska where he rushed for 158 yards and three touchdowns while catching six passes for 66 yards.

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On tape, Barkley looks like one of the best running back to have come out for the draft since Andrian Peterson in 2007. He has the innate ability to stop and regain speed instantly while making his cuts. Barkley moves latterly very well and does a very good job at making tacklers miss in the open field. Not only can he run with finesses but he also has the power to finish runs by driving defenders back at the point of contact.

Barkley is a tremendous receiver out of the backfield. So far in his career, he has caught 95 passes for 1,157 yards and eight touchdowns. He’s dangerous in the open field, because of his ability to pickup yards in bunches with his speed and quickness.

He currently is listed at 5-11 and weighs 228 pounds which means he has the requisite size to be a feature back at the NFL level. Barkley is a freaky athlete, during winter conditioning at Penn State, he was hand-timed with a 4.33 40-yard dash. Even if he runs in the low 4.4’s at the combine, his weight adjusted speed tests off the charts and makes him one of the most athletic running to ever come out for the draft.

Barkley is a bonafide first round pick. He’s more than likely going to be drafted in the top ten in the draft. The Denver Broncos will be out of range to draft him if they continue to win games. Unless, he gets injured between now and the NFL Draft, it’s hard to see him falling out of the top ten of the NFL Draft.

Running back isn’t the biggest need for the Broncos, but they could use the extra talent. Just about every team in the league could use Barkley, because he’s a once in a decade type of talent. Even though quarterback is a major position of need, he might be a safer bet than most of the quarterbacks in this draft.

Offensive line is another area of need for the Broncos and it’s hard to justify taking a running back with the team’s first round pick when the team still needs to finish building their offensive line. Barkley’s effectiveness would be in question due to the instability of the offensive line. Quite frankly, it’s to risky drafting a running back at the top of the first round when the offensive line still needs a lot of work.

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It’s highly unlikely that Barkley even falls to the Broncos. They will be completely out of the Barkley sweepstakes if they win another game, because he’s not going to face a tremendous fall in the draft. The smart move for Denver would be to standpat and take the best available option with team need in mind.