Getty Saquon Barkley of the New York Giants
The long-awaited return of all-world running back Saquon Barkley is finally upon us. After weeks of tempting us with false hope revolving around a plethora of hype videos and head-turning quotes, the wait finally appears to be over.
The New York Giants star player practiced in full all week and had seemingly appeared to be on track to take the field vs. the Arizona Cardinals. On Friday, we were gifted with the update we’d all been waiting for.
Saquon Barkley, Evan Engram cleared for this week’s game, practiced fully with the Giants
While Barkley will be active, he will not be the only Giants running back returning to the team’s lineup. Fellow backfield-mate Wayne Gallman practiced in full on Thursday, and will likely suit up for the G-Men in Week 7. Plus, recently signed Buck Allen will likely make his Giants debut.
Will New York feed Barkley his usual workload? Or will the team take it slow with their superstar running back, opting to go with more of a running back by committee approach as he continues to work his way back to 100 percent? Let’s take a look.
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Saquon Barkley Fantasy Outlook vs. Arizona Cardinals
Saquon Barkley was off to a brilliant start to his sophomore NFL campaign. The reigning rookie of the year was stacking up his usual marvelous statistics prior to injury. Through just two-plus games this season, Barkley averaged 6.4 yards per carry on nearly 240 rushing yards. In fact, he’s averaged a whopping 7.75 ypc over the past three games he’s finished to completion dating back to last year.
Yet, this column isn’t to bombard you with Saquon Barkley’s awesome stats, we are all well aware of that. Instead, we are here to discuss his likely workload, along with what this week’s matchup means for his fantasy value.
In terms of likely touches, it is important to take into consideration that Barkley only averaged 14.5 carries in his two complete games this season. That’s nearly a six carry per game drop off from his average over the final eight games of last season. Barkley was, however, involved heavily in the passing game, averaging nearly seven targets over the first two weeks in 2019, plus five targets in Week 3 despite playing less than half the game.
Wayne Gallman (six receptions in Week 4) and Buck Allen (126 receptions in three of his four NFL seasons) both offer tremendous upside in the passing game, and could be called upon to help lighten Saquon’s snap count on plays not designed specifically for Barkley.
The Cardinals have been surprisingly stout in terms of defending the running back position this season. Arizona has surrendered the 10th fewest fantasy to opposing RBs through the first six weeks of the season. However, those numbers are a bit skewed due to the talent level of the opponents. When Arizona faces off against more talented running backs, players more on Barkley’s level, they struggle mightily. The Cardinals allowed a combined average of 22.7 points and 150.3 yards to the likes of Christian McCaffrey, Chris Carson, and Devonta Freeman this year.
Is it Safe to Start Saquon Barkley in Week 7?
Barkley could have likely played last week, however, New York made the wise decision to protect their franchise cornerstone.
I do expect to see Barkley’s touches slightly limited compared to what we saw from his last season, and while that has some to do with his injury, it’s not the complete story. When Barkley takes the field on Sunday it will mark the first time in Daniel Jones’ career that he will have Saquon, Evan Engram, and Golden Tate all at his disposal at the same time.
Still, Barkley is the most talented player on the Giants roster, arguably in the entire league. If he’s out on the field, the Giants will feature him, even if that wasn’t their plan prior to kickoff. Barkley is a go vs. the Cards, and he should be locked into your starting lineups as well.
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