Running backs are coveted once more and Saquon Barkley’s stock is soaring

Penn State posted a video this week of Barkley preparing for the combine and running a hand-timed 4.33 in the 40-yard dash – at 232 pounds.

Thing is, Barkley isn’t cringing at the prospect of playing for only the second 0-16 team in National Football League history, for a franchise that has a 1-31 record the past two seasons under coach Hue Jackson.

Former Penn State running back Saquon Barkley is not making the first overall pick any easier for the Cleveland Browns. Only North Carolina State’s Nyheim Hines had a better time at 4.38.

Barkley (6-foot, 233 pounds) was impressive throughout a long interview with a mob of reporters.

Although Barkley is not projected to go No. 1, he is considered by many to be the best overall player in the draft. “When you talk about what he did this year and his work ethic and his attitude, he’s another guy who answered all of those”, Howie Roseman said.

As much as Chubb or Barkley would represent serious impact additions to the Colts’ roster and undoubtedly appease the fan base, Mayock offered words of caution. “I would be absolutely stunned if this kid doesn’t go in the Top 5”.

Barkley, 21, lights up when he hears the inevitable comparisons to Sanders, who was his favorite player though he was very young when the Lions star walked away from the game in 1999. Barkley went from 20 to 28 to 54 receptions in his three seasons in State College, becoming the only player in Penn State history and just the fourth Big Ten athlete to gain 3,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards in a career. His father, Alibay Barkley, used to sit with Saquon and watch Jets games, and Saquon admired future Hall of Fame running back Curtis Martin.

In fact, playing in Cleveland is a challenge the upbeat Barkley said he’d embrace. “You’re here for two days eating a lot of food and sitting a lot and not really moving, I guess I weighed a little heavier than I usually do”.

“The bottom line is: Is the guy a football player?” And depending on who has the draft capital to move up, I think you have to listen.

“You want to be part of something like that, that’s something bigger than yourself, that’s something you leave a legacy of being part of something special”, he said of joining a struggling team. “But I do know that whatever team I go to, I’m going to work”. For as much talent as Barkley has on the field, he’s almost as impressive off of it.

Head coach Pat Shurmur didn’t echo the sentiment outright, but he made it clear that a dynamic running back could bridge the gap between the 1-1A situation that he’s searching for. “I try to improve every day”. “I can beat you with speed”. So the best scenario in my mind at running back is when you kind of have a 1., 1a. deal. “If I’m able to do all those things, everything else will take care of itself”.

On Chris Ballard trading back: “I think he has to be open for business, number one”.