New York Giants: Sterling Shepard, standouts from Week 7 vs. Falcons

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ATLANTA, GA – OCTOBER 22: Saquon Barkley #26 of the New York Giants carries the ball in the second quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on October 22, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /

3. RB Saquon Barkley

The second overall pick in April’s draft came into the evening ranked third in the NFL in total yards from scrimmage (811), trailing only Los Angeles Rams’ running back Todd Gurley (956) and Minnesota Vikings’ wide receiver Adam Thielen (822). And even though running back Saquon Barkley failed to total at least 100 yards from scrimmage for the first time this year, he continues to be an enormous bright in a dismal year for the New York Giants.

Kudos to a much-maligned Atlanta Falcons’ defensive unit for keeping the rookie performer under wraps when it came to the ground attack. Barkley did carry the ball just 14 times and was limited to only 43 yards — 15 of those coming on one play.

Of course, he did have a two-yard touchdown run late in the game and also came up with two more points in the closing seconds on another run. However, any attempts to run wide on coordinator Marquand Manuel’s unit wound up being doomed to failure.

Barkley did his usual work as an outlet target for quarterback Eli Manning. He was targeted 10 times and hauled in nine passes for 51 yards. He now has 905 yards from scrimmage in seven games, second-best in the league. And the former Penn State standout has arguably been the Giants’ most consistent performer this season to date.

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