2018 Fantasy Football Saquon Barkley Player Profile

If you like your running backs with legs that don’t quit, then this fantasy football Saquon Barkley player profile is for you and Eli Manning. As we gear up to the start of the NFL season, Football Absurdity is going to bring you a comprehensive breakdown of every notable player that will be available in fantasy football drafts.  When you don’t see us talking about Christine Michael or Mike Davis, don’t get mad at us for neglecting your favorite sleeper.  Get mad at yourself for having bad taste in football players.  We are only focusing on the top-rated running backs in standard scoring and points per game leagues.

With my player profiles, I’ve decided only to go back to look at their fantasy scoring for three years.  I could show you lists from earlier, but most of the guys at the top are no longer in the league anymore.  I’ve also added a chart for their usage over that time span.  We will try to determine, based on those two factors, where the best running back value lies.

Fantasy Football Saquon Barkley

Current ADP (As of 9/3/2018):

Standard: Number 6 among running backs.  Number 6 overall.

PPR: Number 6 among running backs.  Number 7 overall.

Fantasy Football Saquon Barkley Stats:

Overview: For fantasy football Saquon Barkley is a man among boys and one of the best receiving backs I’ve ever seen.  There is no denying his physical talent.  However, physical ability is only part of what makes a running back great and there are some issues that I think people are ignoring when it comes to Saquon.  First off, his college tape showed a player that didn’t finish runs.  That bothers me, because a man that physically superior to his competition should not be afraid of contact.  The other thing that concerns me is the New York Giants themselves.  They are being run by a former Carolina Panthers coaching staff, with the offense going through Mike Shula.  What worries me is that outside of last year where he had the RB10, Mike Shula has never had a running back finish higher than RB23.

One of the most telling statistics pointed out to me by Kevin Genson of Beersheets fame is that running backs drafted in the first round of the NFL draft tend to end their rookie seasons as RB1s.  Over the past five seasons, five of eight backs have ended the year as RB1’s in standard scoring and six of eight backs have been RB1’s in PPR leagues.  What this tells me is that teams that draft running backs in the first round want to get the most out of their investment and do so by running them straight at opposing defenses.

Strategy:  Even though I have my worries about fantasy football Saquon Barkley, I haven’t liked a running back prospect as much as I do him since Ezekiel Elliott.  However, I do not like him at his current ADP.  I don’t know why I should draft an unknown NFL commodity when I could grab proven NFL superstars in the first. Kareem Hunt is being drafted after Barkley, and  he was the NFL’s leading rusher last year.  That is just crazy to me.

Ceiling:  My worries will be for nothing and Saquon Barkley will be the overall RB1 for this year and all years to come.

Floor:  What will actually happen is that Mike Shula will start Jonathan Stewart over Saquon Barkley, because he is an old-school, hard-nosed football coach who doesn’t trust rookies over veterans. Your fantasy team will be just like Mike Shula, Jonathan Stewart and the New York Giants offense — mediocre.