Cleveland Browns: A Case Against Saquon Barkley
By Joel W. Cade
Does athleticism always translate to success?
Note: Barkley is a very good player. I write this article for the sake of presenting the other side of his game that people seem to be conveniently overlooking.
If the Browns draft him I will support it, but if they don’t here is why I believe they will not.
Some of you may know after reading my articles that my vantage point comes through the lenses of an offensive line coach. I tend to analyze things in terms of what I had to do to block as an offensive lineman and what I had to coach my players to do. So here is an OL perspective on the player.
Barkley is an athletic freak. He has all the athletic tools that rarely come along in a position like running back. He adds to that freaky athleticism great hands for catching the ball out of the backfield.
But players with great athleticism often come with drawbacks. Colleges who get these players often thrown them out there and tell them to make plays. They then go out and use their athletic ability to dominate the game at the collegiate level.
Related Story: Browns draft profile: Saquon Barkley
An example of this would be Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett. Garrett is a freaky athlete who could dominate the game just based on his athleticism alone. Texas A & M seemed content to throw him on the field and tell him to go at it. Because he was more physically gifted than everyone else, he pretty much had his way with the SEC.
However, because he never learned the technicalities of position, he came into the NFL very raw as a player. He is now learning how to play the position in the NFL because he cannot win on pure athleticism alone.
The same thing will happen to Saquon Barkley. He is an athletic freak. Due to his athleticism, Barkley was able to make some amazing outstanding plays. Everyone has seen the highlights of Barkley juking four defenders — who just happen to take bad angles — then outrun them to the goal line. Do you really think he is going to do this in the NFL?
No, he won’t. NFL players will take better angles. They will tackle better. They are also just as fast as he is, if not faster. So, the athleticism on the playing field will start to equal out. Barkley will still be more athletic, but the gap will narrow significantly.