Cleveland Browns: A Case Against Saquon Barkley

Can he stay dominate at the next level?

A great preview of what this will look like occurred when Penn State played Ohio State last fall. Yeah, Barkley made some plays, but he looked super ordinary most of the game.

With the reliance on his freaky athleticism comes the underdevelopment at the position itself. Like Myles Garrett, Barkley has some holes he needs to clean up in his game. Most of those holes could be fixed if he would play within the structure of the play.

If Barkley were a quarterback, I would say he is the Johnny Manziel of this years running back class. Not in the sense of Manziel’s character concerns or off field issues. Instead, Barkley plays running back like Manziel played quarterback.

Barkley is at his best when the play breaks down. (Lucky he had tight end Mike Gesicki blocking for him so there were a lot of busted plays.) He could run around in the backfield juking players making a huge gain out of nothing.

Manziel and Barkley became so good at making something out of nothing that they began to look for ways to make plays with their athleticism. At times they did this despite the structure of the play. Just watch the Penn State vs Rutgers game again (see above).

There are plays where the Penn State offensive lines created holes big enough for even Trent Richardson to run through and Barkley fails to hit the hole. Instead takes the hand off and immediately cuts back. He doesn’t even look at where the hole is supposed to be given the structure of the play.

More from Browns Draft

• Browns mock draft: Mazi Smith headlines 2023 class
• One and Done: First year Browns players that didn’t earn a second season
• 3 Michigan Wolverines Cleveland Browns could draft
• 3 positions the Cleveland Browns must draft in 2023
• 2023 draft class suits Browns needs at wide receiver

Like Manziel, Barkley has garnered a lot of attention for his ability to improvise and make plays when the structure falls apart. Barkley has also learned to lean on his athleticism when things go awry.

But this is the NFL. The game is won or lost by players who can play in structure. Manziel never learned to play in structure — combine this with his off-field issues — and now he is no longer in the league. Garret has yet to learn the technicalities of defensive end. But he is showing the promise that he will.

Where will Barkley fall in all of this? Will he learn to hit the proper hole? Will he learn to play within the structure of the play design? His athleticism has carried him this far, but he will need to adapt to be successful in the NFL. Not everyone can adapt.

Another issue for Barkley is a corollary to the structure issue. When a play breaks down, Barkley immediately cuts outside and tries to get the corner. This works in college where he was bigger and faster than most players on the field. He hits a corner and is off to the races for a highlight to be repeated ad nauseum on ESPN.

But re-watch the Ohio State game above. Barkley tries to take a lot of plays outside only to be run to the sideline by players who are just as fast as he is and who understand taking proper angles. All of a sudden those huge runs to the sideline turned into two or three yard gains.

The big play around the corner is not there in the NFL. Barkley will get his gains once he decides to hit the hole the play is designed to create instead of looking to bounce it outside. His needs to improve his vision. He needs to decisively hit a hole. He needs to reign in the idea that he can get the corner and outrun everybody.

Barkley will be learning the technicalities of how to play running back on the job in the NFL. This means things may go poorly for him early on. Should he learn to adapt and play within structure, he could end up becoming a nightmare for defenses. But he is not there now.

Barkley could be a home run or he could be the next player in a long line of athletic freaks who could never figure out how to transition to the NFL game. Either way, he is not a sure bet.

Next: Garrett and Chubb could be dominate

There are athletic freaks available at the top of the draft that have learned their craft. Two of them being Alabama’s Minkah Fitzpartrick and North Carolina State’s Bradley Chubb. Ohio State’s Denzel Ward is a close third. The Browns should take a quarterback and No. 1, then either Fitzpatrick, Ward or Chubb at No. 4.

Leave the running back project to another team.