New York Giants: Feed Saquon Barkley more

The New York Giants need to feed Saquon Barkley more in an attempt to jump-start what was supposed to be a big-play and dynamic offense.

There’s no nice way to say that the New York Giants drafted running back Saquon Barkley to run him into the ground. It’s the nature of the sport and the position the 21-year old plays. Barkley likely will never be more valuable to the Giants than while he’s on his rookie deal. Big Blue may choose to not give him a second contract depending on all that happens over the next four years.

Much has been made about New York’s woeful/boring/unimaginative/ineffective/lousy/terrible, horrible, no good, very bad offense during the loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, one that featured quarterback Eli Manning checking down seemingly whenever possible, a visibly frustrated Odell Beckham Jr. and Barkley, the latter who ended the contest with 16 total touches.

Be upset with Manning repeatedly taking safe options rather than testing the New Orleans secondary and trying to stretch the field. Be mad about the plays and opportunities the two-time Super Bowl MVP missed. That’s all well and good. Barkley needs the ball more. It’s not an overreaction to the team’s 1-3 record, nor is it a hot take following the loss to the Saints. Barkley averaging four touches per quarter is unacceptable.

As Steve Politi of NJ.com pointed out, Barkley tallied 11 touches for 66 yards up through a point of the fourth quarter when the Giants were very much in the game. That’s the most infuriating stat from the defeat, and maybe from the entire season, in general. New York’s defense kept the team in the contest into the final frame. There was more than enough time to give Barkley chances to gain momentum and, maybe, hit the Saints for a big play.

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The Giants weren’t trailing by double-digits until midway through the third quarter. It was 19-7 then, hardly a game out of reach and one in which Manning had to throw the ball nearly every play to engineer a two-minute drive. Yes, New York’s offensive line played worse in the final 30 minutes of the affair, but it wasn’t as bad as some would lead you to believe.

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Perhaps most frustrating about this is that the Saints essentially dared the Giants to have Barkley beat them. They sat back, played zone and appeared to show zero fear about anything Manning and company would do. Some around the NFL would go so far to say that the New Orleans defense disrespected the New York offense.

One of the reasons Pat Shurmur won the Giants gig was that he, supposedly, could get the most out of what is advertised to be a big-play offense. That’s not happening. Barkley isn’t to blame one bit. He’s made the most of finding running lanes when they’ve been opened. He’s a nightmare to bring down. He’s a useful weapon in the passing attack. He’s probably the best athlete on the field each Sunday.

Use him.

Keeping him fresh for the second half of the year or making sure he doesn’t hit the rookie wall won’t matter if the Giants are 1-7 or 2-6. There is no reason Barkley shouldn’t touch the ball at least 25 times per game, especially with tight end Evan Engram sidelined because of injury. Get the rock to your best playmakers. This isn’t reinventing the wheel.

Feeding Barkley alone won’t fix everything. There are real reasons to be worried Manning isn’t the right signal-caller to lead this offense. Part of the plan, Giants fans were told, was that Barkley would make life easier for the 37-year-old and lighten the load. Why draft him over a quarterback if that’s not going to be the case in 2018?

Acquiring Barkley was not just about taking the best player available. Those running the Giants honestly think Barkley is a future Hall of Famer and a once-in-a-generation talent.

Experiment with ways in which Barkley can create nightmare matchups for opposing defenses and, possibly, open things up for Beckham and Sterling Shepard. See if he can find a rhythm carrying the ball in the opening half-hour of play. Change something, because the offense, as it exists on Oct. 2, is broken.

New offenses need time to gel. The Giants don’t have that luxury. A team meant to win ASAP is 1-3 and a couple of additional losses away from the campaign spiraling out of control before Halloween. Getting Barkley the ball more isn’t a campaign-saving move, but it’s a start.