Getty Saquon Barkley #26 of the New York Giants
Saquon Barkley underperformed in week one against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Barkley rushed for six yards on a 0.4 yards per carry average.
No need to fear, it’s only week one.
“I would say chalk it up to the game basically,” two-time Giants Super Bowl legend, Carl Banks told me on the Heavy Live With Scoop B Show.
“Because the Pittsburgh Steelers were better up front.”
Barkley is football royalty. Two seasons ago, the NFL Rookie of the Year notched 1,307 yards, the most rushing yards by a rookie. Additionally, the former Penn State Nittany Lion had the distinction of setting a rookie record for the most touchdowns in a season with 15. “The Giants could not block them,” Carl Banks tells Heavy Live With Scoop B.
“And you say to Saquon, ‘We’re gonna get ‘em next week.’ ”
The Giants take on the 1-0 Chicago Bears this week. The Bears beat the Detroit Lions last week.
Banks forecasts that the Barkley will have the support that he needs from his teammates. “I think the offensive line will show some sense of pride,” he told Heavy Live With Scoop B.
NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 11: Professional football player Carl Banks attends Cantor Fitzgerald & BGC Partners host annual charity day on 9/11 to benefit over 100 charities worldwide at Cantor Fitzgerald on September 11, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Mike McGregor/Getty Images for Cantor Fitzgerald)
“And say, ‘Listen. We CANNOT allow anybody to shut our franchise running back out…’ and he’s just too good to be shut out and thankfully they won’t be playing the Pittsburgh Steelers for the next 15 games, they got the Bears this week coming up and they should feel a little better.
The Chicago Bears announced a change to their injury report on Saturday, when they ruled inside linebacker Josh Woods out for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants with a personal reason.
Per Windy City Gridiron: Since the Bears only carry two reserve inside linebackers on their active roster, they activated newly signed Devante Bond from the practice squad to take his place. Woods didn’t play on defense last Sunday, but he did get in for 19 special team’s snaps, so expect Bond, who played in the third phase for the last three Bears’ games of 2019, to help shore things up in that area.
The support for Barkley, is felt. While on the Scoop B Radio Podcast earlier this summer, former Giants running back David Wilson spoke highly of Saquon Barkley “When I watch him play, it looks like he’s having a lot of fun,” he told me.
“And he looks like he knows what he’s doing and he takes the game serious. And you know, he’s entertaining. He’s strong and powerful and versatile, so I enjoy watching him. He’s exciting.He’s versatile, so to really compare him to somebody I think I see a lot of the good things of a lot of the past players in him.”