Whether it is soccer, football, basketball, or any other sport, the newcomers will always be put side by side with their current counterparts and compared. It is the same thing that is happening right now with the Penn State running back Saquon Barkley. As you can see, there is a huge debate and a voting poll on whether Barkley is better than Elliot or not.
This discussion and question came from a very strong and convincing match that Barkley played against Iowa last week. In that game, Barkley shined and proved that he can be a very dominant player in every down, but of course, right after that, a huge question rose – just how good is he when he is stacked up against the best backs from recent drafts, like Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott? Daniel Jeremiah from NFL Network said this “I agree with the executive I spoke to last week who said Barkley is a better player than Ezekiel Elliott. I’m not taking anything away from Elliott’s rare talents — he’s obviously a great player — but Barkley has more wiggle and top-end speed than Elliott. Elliott’s a powerful runner and he has great instincts. Barkley is at the same level in both of those facets of the game, but Barkley’s start-stop quickness and top speed are on a different level.”
All things aside no one can ignore the fact that Barkley showed off his rare skill set, and he did that every week this year and just based on that he should be considered the current front-runner for the Heisman Trophy, especially after what he did on the road against the Hawkeyes. A lot of talk regarding the NFL devaluing running backs will definitely be forgotten since Barkley will most likely go to NFL as a top 5 back pick, just like it was the case with Elliott and Jacksonville Jaguars rookie Leonard Fournette in previous years.
