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In case you somehow missed the news, the New York Giants selected Penn State running back Saquon Barkley on Thursday night with the second overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Our coverage
- Giants 2018 draft: Saquon Barkley selected No. 2 overall
- Why didn’t the Giants select a quarterback at No. 2?
- Why the Giants selected Saquon Barkley
- Why didn’t the Giants trade the No. 2 pick?
- Saquon Barkley goes home to New York Giants
What others are saying
New York Giants' 2018 draft: Analysis for every selection - NFL Nation- ESPN
The Giants bypassed quarterback Sam Darnold -- never even contemplated him -- in lieu of the top player on their board. General manager Dave Gettleman said Barkley was his highest-graded player since Peyton Manning in 1997. Barkley will make the Giants better. He’s a tremendous player who can do it all. The Giants raved about his skill set. Gettleman said it was as if he was “touched by the hands of God.” But Eli Manning is 37 years old, and Darnold was taken with the very next pick by the crosstown Jets. Darnold and Barkley are eternally linked. This decision will be debated for years to come.
Giants have no choice but to believe in Eli Manning’s ability - NY Daily News
The Giants believe in Eli.
The decision to take Penn State running back Saquon Barkley with the second overall pick in Thursday’s draft was hardly shocking, but with plenty of quarterbacks available to choose as the potential heir to Eli Manning, going with Barkley still leaves the question of what the future holds for the Giants at the most important position.
Manning is 37 years old and has two years remaining on his contract, while his backup, Davis Webb, continues to be a work in progress.
5 takeaways from NY Giants pick of Saquon Barkley
The Giants were convinced Saquon Barkley was the right choice for them at No. 2, and GM Dave Gettleman insists he never wavered from the pick
How Giants’ selection of Saquon Barkley affects Eli Manning | Newsday
Manning is under contract for two more seasons.
Sam Darnold the next Namath? It has a very painful meaning to Giants
This wasn’t the first time the Giants had a decision to make: can’t-miss running back or enticing quarterback. They made the same choice 53 years ago that they made Thursday night. Then it was Auburn’s Tucker Frederickson, now Penn State’s Saquon Barkley.
It worked out pretty well for the Jets when the Giants passed on a QB from Alabama named Joe Willie Namath. Jets fans have to hope history can repeat itself with Sam Darnold.
Will Giants, Barkley succeed in grand experiment against convention? | theScore.com
There is a convention trumpeted among the old vanguard of the football community, hypothesizing that running backs are no longer worthy of first-round picks. Since football is a sport that is resistant to progressive thinking, a legion of sycophants often blindly parrot this notion, trotting rudimentary economic theories about how running backs are an inefficient use of a quality resource.
After selecting Saquon Barkley with the second overall pick, New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman burned down the traditional model of team-building, opting for the most electrifying player of this year's class. Gettleman is now married to the Barkley pick, with his career riding on his grand experiment against the tired tropes that the culture of football is rooted in. Tasked with fixing one of the marquee franchises in the NFL, Gettleman could provide a model for the future, or serve as a cautionary tale to any executive who dares take a calculated risk.
NFL draft 2018: Giants' Saquon Barkley pick shows they're in win-now mode
Gettleman, a 67-year-old football lifer teaming with new head coach Pat Shurmur, is clearly in no mood to conduct a long rebuilding project. He made a major statement in drafting the former Penn State star: Win now.
This wasn’t about making a statement on 37-year-old quarterback Eli Manning. It was about supporting Manning (whose O-line protection got a boost with the free agent signing of left tackle Nate Solder) with a dynamic weapon capable of scoring any time he touches the football, about adding the perfect complement to a potent wide receiver corps led by Odell Beckham, Jr.