Pat Shurmur: “We felt [Saquon Barkley] was the best player in the draft,’’

New York Giants’ head coach Pat Shurmur appeared on on Talk of Fame’s Sports Network’s podcast last week and had a lot to say about the Giants and their thoughts during the 2018 NFL Draft.

The Giants decided to select former Penn State running back Saquon Barkley over taking a quarterback with the second overall pick in the draft, a decision that Shurmur thought was the right one. Going into the draft process, Shurmur believed that Barkley was their guy.

“We felt he was the best player in the draft,’’ Shurmur said of Barkley. “He had everything we’re looking for.’’

Barkley can do it all at running back, showing the be one of the most well-rounded running backs seen in the draft in awhile. Shurmur believes his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield will help the Giants offense tremendously next season.

“He has good collision balance,’’ Shurmur said.

While the selection of Barkley with the second overall pick, there was speculation out there that the Giants would go with a quarterback. Shurmur spoke about this on the podcast, showing confidence in 37-year-old Eli Manning.

“[Manning] has a lot left,” Shurmur said. “He gets it. He’s a true pro. He adds to the discussion. And he can still throw the ball.’’

If you want to hear the entire interview that Talk of Fame’s Sports Network’s podcast had with Shurmur, you can listen to it here.