Saquon Barkley
5'11
230 Pounds
Footage watched: vs Pittsburgh (9/9) @ Iowa (9/23) vs Indiana (9/30) vs Michigan (10/21)
Vs Pittsburgh
Strengths: Strong push up the middle. Able to absolutely level smaller defenders. Reliable hands. Able to use speed to beat linebacker outside. Good vision. Bursts through the hole with momentum. Follows blockers well. Difficult match-up for linebackers as a receiver. Agility with which to bounce it outside. Special teams threat.
Vs Pitt: 14 carries. Times met in backfield: two yard loss. Three yard loss. Short loss.
Like to see creativity such as in delayed handoff in order to make the defense expect a pass and create more running room for Barkley.
Vs Iowa:
Ability to juke defenders and bounce it outside for big gains. Shifty in one-on-on. Repeatedly makes the first defender missed, even when blocker misses his assignment. Extremely strong, hard to bring down due to strength and balance. Vertical ability and balance to stay on feet after hurdling defender.
Weakness: bounces it outside where defenders are prepared to tackle him. likewise, on occasion, will run backwards to try to achieve a bigger gain, but just loses yards. I think this is overconfidence.
Vs Iowa: 28 carries. Times met in backfield: short loss. Escapes two defenders in backfield and bounces it outside for nice gain. Eludes two defenders and makes it back to line of scrimmage. Pushes and jukes way back to line of scrimmage. Breaks tackle and heads outside for nice gain. Cut down at line of scrimmage.
Key is to get Barkley out into open space. Love to see him feign a blocking assignment then roll out into flat where he can catch it in open space.
Vs Indiana
Strengths: Obviously has confidence in his speed to break it outside. Hands. Swift cut through a hole, hits hole with momentum. Stiff-arm. Strength to keep pushing and fall forward.
Weaknesses:
20 carries Times met in backfield: (On reception) one-handed grab out of the air, makes first defender miss by intelligently using the defender's momentum to his disadvantage, juke and big gain. Wrapped up behind line of scrimmage. Wrapped up behind line of scrimmage. Wrapped up behind line of scrimmage, stupidly tried to run backwards a bit and cost himself an extra couple yards. Jukes defender and good gain. Wrapped up at line of scrimmage by strong defender + support, but tough to bring down.
Why so many runs out of the shotgun when that makes it harder for offensive line to stave off defensive penetration into backfield?
Vs Michigan
Strengths: -patience and intelligence to have blocker set-up block before changing direction. Ability to meet defender in man coverage. His juke almost broke # 10's ankles.
Weaknesses: Dropped pass when not simply out in the flat (he almost dropped that touchdown pass where he was totally wide open). Needs to stop slipping while making cuts or shifting weight onto front of his feet--happened once this game and again vs Indiana. Running backwards, time wasted not running north-south, especially considering his strength, he seems to reliant on his lateral agility for all the work he puts in the weight room.
Creative play-calling to open up huge hole for Barkley, who has the vision to see it and the breakaway speed. Forces attention form linebackers, in turn makes McSorley more of a running threat.
15 carries. Times met in backfield: pushes towards minimal gain. Again--benefit of using momentum to drive forward out of shotgun. Jukes outside and pushes for decent gain. Makes initial defender miss, but support takes him down in backfield. Jukes initial defender and pushes back to line of scrimmage. Again. Half-jukes out defender, taken down for loss on outside pitch. Turns around from group of four defenders and gets minimal gain. Ran backwards from defender (which turned out not to cost him), met by support for loss.
Summary:
yards after contact: strength and balance.
able to quickly bounce outside past several defenders and is thus difficult to contain
balance and agility with which to quickly make sharp cuts and juke out defenders. juking ability makes him a monster in open space.
incredible at making first defender miss.
For the NFL I think he's going to need to stop dilly-dallying with horizontal running behind the backfield. His athleticism bails him out against a team like Iowa, but in the NFL a lot of his nice gains will be considerable losses behind the line of scrimmage. Doesn't seem too consistent as a blocker.
Nice hands in the flat, but not reliable as a receiver downfield.
I saw some of the big gains that Bryce Love got. With the kind of holes that his offensive line gives him. I never saw those kind of holes for Barkley. I repeatedly saw effective penetration from the defense into the backfield, which makes life a billion times harder for Barkley.
5'11
230 Pounds
Footage watched: vs Pittsburgh (9/9) @ Iowa (9/23) vs Indiana (9/30) vs Michigan (10/21)
Vs Pittsburgh
Strengths: Strong push up the middle. Able to absolutely level smaller defenders. Reliable hands. Able to use speed to beat linebacker outside. Good vision. Bursts through the hole with momentum. Follows blockers well. Difficult match-up for linebackers as a receiver. Agility with which to bounce it outside. Special teams threat.
Vs Pitt: 14 carries. Times met in backfield: two yard loss. Three yard loss. Short loss.
Like to see creativity such as in delayed handoff in order to make the defense expect a pass and create more running room for Barkley.
Vs Iowa:
Ability to juke defenders and bounce it outside for big gains. Shifty in one-on-on. Repeatedly makes the first defender missed, even when blocker misses his assignment. Extremely strong, hard to bring down due to strength and balance. Vertical ability and balance to stay on feet after hurdling defender.
Weakness: bounces it outside where defenders are prepared to tackle him. likewise, on occasion, will run backwards to try to achieve a bigger gain, but just loses yards. I think this is overconfidence.
Vs Iowa: 28 carries. Times met in backfield: short loss. Escapes two defenders in backfield and bounces it outside for nice gain. Eludes two defenders and makes it back to line of scrimmage. Pushes and jukes way back to line of scrimmage. Breaks tackle and heads outside for nice gain. Cut down at line of scrimmage.
Key is to get Barkley out into open space. Love to see him feign a blocking assignment then roll out into flat where he can catch it in open space.
Vs Indiana
Strengths: Obviously has confidence in his speed to break it outside. Hands. Swift cut through a hole, hits hole with momentum. Stiff-arm. Strength to keep pushing and fall forward.
Weaknesses:
20 carries Times met in backfield: (On reception) one-handed grab out of the air, makes first defender miss by intelligently using the defender's momentum to his disadvantage, juke and big gain. Wrapped up behind line of scrimmage. Wrapped up behind line of scrimmage. Wrapped up behind line of scrimmage, stupidly tried to run backwards a bit and cost himself an extra couple yards. Jukes defender and good gain. Wrapped up at line of scrimmage by strong defender + support, but tough to bring down.
Why so many runs out of the shotgun when that makes it harder for offensive line to stave off defensive penetration into backfield?
Vs Michigan
Strengths: -patience and intelligence to have blocker set-up block before changing direction. Ability to meet defender in man coverage. His juke almost broke # 10's ankles.
Weaknesses: Dropped pass when not simply out in the flat (he almost dropped that touchdown pass where he was totally wide open). Needs to stop slipping while making cuts or shifting weight onto front of his feet--happened once this game and again vs Indiana. Running backwards, time wasted not running north-south, especially considering his strength, he seems to reliant on his lateral agility for all the work he puts in the weight room.
Creative play-calling to open up huge hole for Barkley, who has the vision to see it and the breakaway speed. Forces attention form linebackers, in turn makes McSorley more of a running threat.
15 carries. Times met in backfield: pushes towards minimal gain. Again--benefit of using momentum to drive forward out of shotgun. Jukes outside and pushes for decent gain. Makes initial defender miss, but support takes him down in backfield. Jukes initial defender and pushes back to line of scrimmage. Again. Half-jukes out defender, taken down for loss on outside pitch. Turns around from group of four defenders and gets minimal gain. Ran backwards from defender (which turned out not to cost him), met by support for loss.
Summary:
yards after contact: strength and balance.
able to quickly bounce outside past several defenders and is thus difficult to contain
balance and agility with which to quickly make sharp cuts and juke out defenders. juking ability makes him a monster in open space.
incredible at making first defender miss.
For the NFL I think he's going to need to stop dilly-dallying with horizontal running behind the backfield. His athleticism bails him out against a team like Iowa, but in the NFL a lot of his nice gains will be considerable losses behind the line of scrimmage. Doesn't seem too consistent as a blocker.
Nice hands in the flat, but not reliable as a receiver downfield.
I saw some of the big gains that Bryce Love got. With the kind of holes that his offensive line gives him. I never saw those kind of holes for Barkley. I repeatedly saw effective penetration from the defense into the backfield, which makes life a billion times harder for Barkley.
