By WFAN.com
The Giants had the second overall pick in the NFL draft, but general manager Dave Gettleman believes he walked away from the first round with the best player in this year's rookie class.
Big Blue selected Penn State's Saquon Barkley, a running back that some analysts say is the best to enter the league since Adrian Peterson in 2007.
In three seasons at Penn State, Barkley rushed for 3,843 yards and 43 touchdowns while catching more than 100 passes. Last season, he ran for 1,271 yards and 18 touchdowns while averaging 5.9 yards per carry. He also had 54 receptions for 632 yards and three more scores.
If his game tape in college wasn't impressive enough, Barkley enjoyed one of the most impressive combines ever. The 6-foot, 233-pound running back ran a 4.4 40-yard dash, recorded a 41-inch vertical leap and had 29 bench reps.
"I'm just truly excited and honored to be a member of the New York Giants," Barkley told ESPN. "When I got to visit their program, I fell in love. When you walk in, you see the Super Bowl (trophies) right away. You see that team's about winning, and hopefully I can go up there and help as quickly as possible."
It's been an especially memorable week for Barkley. On Tuesday, his girlfriend gave birth to their daughter, Jada Clare.
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"It's truly amazing," he said. "I tell people it's like it's from a movie or a book. It's an honor, and I'm just thankful that I can have two big blessings in my life."
Speaking to reporters shortly after the pick, new Giants general manager Dave Gettleman raved about Barkley.
"We felt Saquon was the best player in the draft," he said. "In baseball, they call it a five-tool player. I don't know if I'm going to be able to come up with five tools, but I haven't seen a guy like this in a long time, and I've been running around doing this for 30-plus years.
"The kid's so unique because of his size and his speed. He's got the ability to string together multiple moves. He's got the ability to step on the gas. He can do what we call 'cross the formation.' There's a lot of good backs in this league. They don't have the speed to go all the way across the formation. He's got that ability. We all know that he can catch the hell out of the rock. He's smart in blitz pick-up. He sees it, and that's probably the biggest issue all these young runners have. And he's powerful. He runs through tackles. He runs through hits."
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In a 3-13 season in 2017, the Giants were ranked 26th in the NFL in rushing, averaging 96.8 yards per game.
Barkley joins a backfield that also includes Jonathan Stewart, Wayne Gallman and Paul Perkins.
The Giants had an opportunity to draft a quarterback -- Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and Josh Rosen were still on the board -- but Gettleman elected to wait on finding Eli Manning's successor.
"If you have to try to make yourself fall in love with the player, it's wrong," Gettleman said.
