The Giants should REALLY draft Saquon Barkley

As an Eagles fan, I really think the Giants should draft Saquon Barkley.

I know there are a lot of people who would read that sentence and think to themselves, “What are you talking about?! Saquon is the best running back prospect EVER! I don’t want to have to play him twice a season for the next decade?!”

Those people aren’t necessarily wrong, but at the same time, they need to calm down. Barkley is talented as all hell and every bit as good as any of the top running back prospects to enter the draft in the last decade, but in this situation, he’s the lesser of two evils.

The Giants find themselves in what should be a dream situation. They’re coming off their worst season in the past 15 years. Their franchise QB is 37 years old and on the last toe of his last leg. They’re picking second overall in one of the best QB classes in sometime. This really shouldn’t be that hard of a pick, but in come the Giants saying, “Yo, hold my beer!”

As Eagles fans, we all know how valuable the second pick in the draft and a top QB prospect can be. Honestly, just thinking about Carson Wentz gets me a little hot a bothered. The Giants are in the same position the Eagles found themselves in two years ago, ya know, two years before they won the Super Bowl ;). They have a golden opportunity to hit the reset button now that they’re under new management, but it doesn’t seem like they’re going to follow in the footsteps of the Eagles (AKA do the smart thing). Instead, their plan seems to be making sure Eli Manning has as all the tools he needs to succeed in what might be his last NFL season.

To their credit, I can see where the Giants are coming from. It reminds me a little of what the Lakers did during Kobe Bryant’s last season. Except, when the Lakers had the second overall pick in the draft going into that season, they didn’t take a big man to compliment Kobe, they picked the person they hoped could replace him.

And again, to the Giants’ credit, it’s not like Saquon doesn’t fill a need. The Giants have had a hole at running back since Ahmad Bradshaw left in 2013. What makes things worse is how close they’ve been to finding their franchise RB in previous drafts. This tweet from @MySportsUpdate shows just how frustratingly close the Giants have been to striking gold in the draft at RB.

Saquon very well could be the Giants new franchise running back, but that still doesn’t make this the smart pick. As a prospect, Barkley is talented as a runner, but the thing that makes him truly unique are his skills as a reciever. He would be a great weapon for Eli next season, but then after that, Im not entirely sure. The Giants would have themselves an uber talented running back, but they won’t be able to get the most out of him because they won’t have anyone to throw him the football. And I swear, if anyone comes at me with some, “Oh, but what about Davis Webb?” bull shit, imma fight ’em.

The Giants taking a QB at #2 should be one of the most no brainer picks in this draft and yet everyone from New York is infatuated with the guy from Happy Valley. I’ve actually heard some Giants fan say, “Well, there will always be other QBs in other drafts.”

Seriously, someone should try telling that to a Browns fan and see how long it takes them to stop laughing.

There’s no guarantee the Giants will be picking this high again anytime soon. There’s no guarantee the Giants will be able to take a QB as good as the ones available in this draft again anytime soon. There’s no guarantee that Saquon is a can’t miss prospect at a dime-a-dozen position. There’s also the fact QBs typically have a much longer shelf life than RBs. And yet still, the Giants probably won’t be picking a QB tonight.

As a football fan, I can’t help but think the Giants are making a huge mistake, but as an Eagles fan, I think look pretty smart.