How Giants' Saquon Barkley found a way to unleash the playmaking beast from within

EAST RUTHERFORD - Saquon Barkley stepped into the huddle and as soon as Daniel Jones relayed the play call to the rest of the offense, the Giants' running back made this promise:

He wasn't about to make the same mistake twice.

On the exact same run earlier in the game last Monday night against the Cowboys, Barkley hesitated as he reached the second level, just enough to allow safety Malik Hooker to make the tackle after a six-yard gain.

This time, Jones gave the football to Barkley, who darted through the line, got to the second level and hit Hooker with a jump-cut reminiscent of his days at Penn State. That move opened up the entire left side of the field for Barkley, and he maintained the angle to the end zone by sprinting untouched to the pylon, flipping the ball into the air in a Jumpman celebration that capped a spectacular 36-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

"Those are the plays that put on a smile on your face and you are like, 'That's the guy I know. That's the guy who always was there,'" Barkley said. "He was there last year to be completely honest. I just had a hard time finding a way to bring him out."

The Giants had their crossover with Marvel Studios last season in which team leaders were portrayed as Avengers on the cover of a special edition comic book for fans. That did not stop Barkley from making what sounded like a great pitch, inadvertently, for a spin-off:

A new series coming to Disney Plus about a running back who lost his way, battled through injuries and cast aside as one of the top players at the position, only to regain his swagger and dig deep to find the playmaker he once was ... Say-Hulk!

Jokes aside, the Giants are buying in, and so are their opponents, continuing with the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium, at least they should be.

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Barkley isn't just feeling like "the old Saquon," but a new and improved version that has a league-best 408 yards from scrimmage. Through three weeks of his banner first season, Barkley had 353 scrimmage yards and finished with a league-leading 2,028 total yards and won AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

"I don’t know if I’m really better. I would say I’m probably a smarter player," said Barkley, now 25. "I have a better understanding of the game than I had my rookie year. My rookie year is when you come into the best shape of your life – you’re 21, you’re young, I hadn't had any injuries in the past or anything like that. I probably was in better physical shape than I was but just understanding the game, slowing down the game."

As intriguing as Barkley has looked, this still feels like a final chapter here and not yet a new beginning. He is the longest-tenured Giant on the field after the heartwrenching end to Sterling Shepard's season against the Cowboys after tearing the ACL in his left knee.

But if he continues to produce, talk of his future is going to pick up considerably.

Not long ago the Giants hoped Barkley would represent everything that was right with the franchise - promising next level talent, engaging personality, the centerpiece of a future with seemingly unlimited possibility - and in some ways they still do.

It's true that some others offered a different reality when the Giants selected Barkley second overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, when Dave Gettleman essentially did everything but commission the sculptor to begin crafting his bust for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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Critics decried taking a running back that high, how the positional value - not necessarily the player - led to expectations having gone unsatisfied, save for a banner rookie campaign, and that goes for the team overall as well.

Barkley is playing for a new deal, the value of which for a running back is viewed as high risk, given the physical and fiscal toll of the position.

Whether that's here with the Giants or somewhere else is to be determined.

"Last year is when I really felt the hurdle everyone wants to talk about. I kind of felt that was the hurdle for me last year," Barkley said. "Obviously we didn't finish the last game last year -- we didn't play well at all as a team. For that one, to go back to Chicago, the place where I tore my knee, to have a 100-yard game, obviously it's all about the team, but to look at it from my mindset, to go to that place that kind of put everything in the past for me and be able to go into the offseason healthy. I was able to show glimpses of that, especially inside running. I just wasn't breaking long runs, and now that I have that confidence back all that stuff is starting to happen again."

It's also become pretty evident that, from everything we have seen to this point, Barkley is being given the chance to make whatever decision the Giants are going to make on his future a very difficult one. The more he plays like this, the more interest there will be in adding a playmaker of his caliber to a potential contender, perhaps even as early as the Nov. 1 trading deadline.

While it's unlikely the Giants would look to move Barkley if they play their way into surprising contention for a playoff berth, and he's a big part of that, general manager Joe Schoen has promised he has the bigger picture in mind when it comes to this roster and this rebuild.

For Barkley, Sunday's game against the Bears (2-1) represents another opportunity to unleash his inner beast.

"I lost confidence, and it's human nature, that happens," Barkley said. "You’re going to have your ups and downs in life, but you got to find a way not to waver, continue to trust yourself, continue to trust the process, and just find belief in yourself again. I feel like I’m starting to do that."