Saquon Barkley, the Penn St. RB, sits at No. 3 on the consensus board across 27 public boards. The tier model reads him as an impact starter — 64% elite, 20% starter.
Instincts
NFL.com's Lance Zierlein: “Barkley has the rare ability to create additional yardage through elusiveness, speed, vision and feel for space in the open field.”
Production Context
ESPN's Todd McShay: “The top prospect on our board, Barkley projects as an every-down back with the elite talent and intangibles to become a franchise-changing player.”
Production Context
ESPN's Todd McShay: “He's gifted enough to emerge as an All-Pro-caliber player early in his career.”
Athleticism
ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr.: “Barkley plays with tremendous balance, a great lower body and quick feet.”
Role and scheme fit
The archetype rules read him as a power-back.
Sources · 6 · quotes 3
The report above is our synthesis. These links preserve the research trail; quoted language below remains the source's own.
- Lance Zierlein, NFL.com
- Todd McShay, ESPN
- Mel Kiper Jr., ESPN
- Todd McShay, espn_todd_mcshay
- Lance Zierlein, nfl_com_zierlein
- Mel Kiper Jr., espn_mel_kiper
“…The top prospect on our board, Barkley projects as an every-down back with the elite talent and intangibles to become a franchise-changing player. He's gifted enough to emerge as an All-Pro-caliber player early in his career.…”
“…Every-down running back with the ability to alter the course of an offense and become a face of the franchise-type player. Barkley has the rare ability to create additional yardage through elusiveness, speed, vision and feel for space in the open field. While he has been tasked with carrying a heavy load at Penn State, their decision to limit his carries somewhat this season could help Barkley headed into his rookie…”
“…Previous rank: 1 Barkley is the best prospect in this draft. His testing numbers at the combine -- 4.40 40-yard dash and 41-inch vertical -- were elite at any size, much less a 6-foot, 233-pound back. Barkley plays with tremendous balance, a great lower body and quick feet. He's a stellar runner both inside and outside the tackles, and he showed in 2017 that he's a true three-down back. He had 54 catches after having…”
Sourced synthesis from 6 scouting sources, not original film. How these reports are written →