Bashing a first-round draft pick, particularly one so highly rated and who won't play a meaningful NFL snap until September can make you feel like a killjoy.
Indeed, questioning the wisdom behind the Giants drafting Saquon Barkley with the second overall pick can be silly and myopic, like someone who wins the lotto then gripes about the taxes he has to pay. It's especially painful to knock the pick because Barkley is, by all accounts, as nice, humble, and hard-working as anyone in any draft. So this is not at all about the player, but rather about the game.
Just browse the league's top rushers last year and you'll see why some fans wince while pondering Big Blue's choice. The leading rusher, Kareem Hunt, was picked in the third round by the Chiefs. No. 3 on the list - the no-brainer best RB in football, Le'Veon Bell was picked by Pittsburgh in the second round. Bell has an astounding 8,000 yards from scrimmage in his first 62 games, the fastest in NFL history. The fourth-leading rusher, LeSean McCoy was also a second-round pick, drafted by the Eagles then dealt to Buffalo.
No. 6, Jordan Howard, was a fifth-round pick by the Bears. Ninth on the list, C.J. Anderson, wasn't even drafted, signed by the Broncos as a free agent out of college. The only player in the top-10 pick anywhere near Barkley's slot is Ezekiel Elliot, drafted by Dallas with the fourth pick two years ago. In all, half of the NFL's leading rushers were not drafted in the first round. And if you consider that David Johnson - a third round pick who led the NFL with 2,118 yards from scrimmage in 2016 - was injured last year, then surely six of the top-ten rushers would have been drafted well after the first round.
Big Blue fans are drooling over the idea of Eli Manning handing the ball to Barkley and whipping the ball to Odell Beckham Jr. But what happens in a year or two when it's Davis Webb under center? Even worse, what happens when Beckham is a free agent and realizes the Giants didn't plan for Eli's successor and decides to flee MetLife to play with a bona fide QB? Had the Giants taken Sam Darnold or Josh Rosen, either would have been a strong recruiting tool to keep Beckham in the huddle. Webb, Barkley, and Sterling Shepard doesn't have the same ring, does it?
Speaking of Darnold, it's got to feel a bit surreal to hear that Gang Green got it right while we tug on the merits of the Giants' draft. No matter what we think about Barkley's NFL future, we all agree that a football team's future pivots off the quarterback. And the plain truth is the Giants have no long-term answer after Eli, while the Jets have Josh McCown, Teddy Bridgewater, and Darnold - not a bad place to be when building a club.
Maybe Saquon Barkley, a NYC kid with a epic strength, blinding speed, and bright future, becomes everything every Pollyanna says he is. Maybe he plays in the next six or seven Pro Bowls, racks up 1,500 total yards per season, and becomes the best Giants running back in history. Will it matter if they don't have the right guy handing the ball to him?
Quick - name the star running backs of the two latest Super Bowl teams! Exactly. The Eagles won the Super Bowl with RB by committee, just as the Patriots do every year, keeping several really good backs knowing they don't need a great one. Adrian Peterson never played in a Super Bowl. Nether did LaDanian Tomlinson. Neither did Barry Sanders. Maybe Le'Veon Bell gets there, but he has a Hall-of-Fame QB in front of him (Big Ben). Like all fine runners, they need fine throwers to bust through that Super Bowl membrane.
As someone born and raised in Manhattan, I'd love to see a Bronx kid make good for his hometown team. Barkley deserves to be a high draft pick, and checks off every box, both physical and spiritual. It's just not his fault he can't play quarterback. Nor is it his fault the Giants will need a new one very soon, or else it won't matter how badass Barkley is.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel
