Giants Training Camp Report: Saquon Barkley’s ‘Epiphany’ and Popularity

It was a swampy, hot day in the shadow of the old Meadowlands for the second day of Giants training camp, and my first chance to take in last year’s most surprising team in the NFL. Here’s what I saw …

1. Saquon Barkley looked comfortable on the field. He whipped across the defense on a drag route early in practice and after scoring did a bit of a wobbly-legged dance to “Wipe Me Down” by Boosie Badazz & Webbie. You could tell Daniel Jones wanted to get Barkley involved early, staring him down on a route early in their first 7-on-7 period, causing linebacker Azeez Ojulari to press Barkley at the line (Jones eventually threw a pick to safety Xavier McKinney).

He is still, without question, the most popular player on this team. The wave of roars when he crossed a fictional goal line during a practice was palpable. Perhaps the reason why he later told reporters he had an “epiphany” about returning to the Giants instead of holding out as contract negotiations went south.

This was, undoubtedly, the story of training camp. Barkley came to the podium looking like someone who was choosing his words carefully but not too carefully. He spoke eloquently about the state of the running back, but it’s clear there are some unresolved loose ends to this story (notably, whether Barkley was upset with his initial representation when he turned down a long-term offer, what he would define as a “respectable” offer from the Giants, and whether there were real trade discussions).

Because Barkley mentioned himself along with Christian McCaffrey as having a responsibility, I asked him about the burden of trying to elevate not only yourself but an entire position.

“It’s not hard to carry the burden because I really don’t feel it’s like that,” he said. “In my mindset, I understand there’s a legacy and that I have to look out for everyone. But for me, it’s going out there, doing what you do and doing what you love at a high level. For everyone who has known me since I was a rookie, I’ve been saying take care of the little things, and it’ll take care of itself. … That’s something I believe in to the core, and I’m always going to live by that.”

Barkley said the best advice he received from other veterans during the process was that if he showed up during the first day of training camp, he couldn’t “carry any of this in my heart.” The Giants can breathe a sigh of relief there. While it’s clear this didn’t end the way he wanted, and while—I felt—it took some effort on his part to answer a question about whether he felt the Giants were respectful monetarily through the negotiation process, there was a determined effort to bury this story in one day.

He has a future as a coach, general manager or politician if he wants it.

2. More from my talk with Giants coach Brian Daboll soon, but I asked him specifically about this offseason. I remember talking to one head coach about an offseason where two of his biggest star players were up for contracts, and what that’s like to balance being a friend and a de facto piece of the management structure. Both Barkley and Jones saw negotiations come down to the wire. Meanwhile, the Giants handed out a massive contract extension to Andrew Thomas the day before.

What was that like for a second-year coach clearly riding some momentum (a notion that Daboll would dispute given his day-by-day approach).

“I try to build relationships with all my players. I’m very transparent,” he says. “I think we have very good conversations. There’s a business element to it. [GM Joe Schoen] has done a fantastic job. He has a role. I have a role. We’re going to work together, but there’s a football side which we’re into right now and we’re looking forward to seeing what we can build together.”

To hammer home his point about the past being the past, Daboll implored all reporters after his press conference to “read books by Ryan Holiday.” Holiday is a best-selling author who relays the concepts of stoicism in an easily digestible form. One of his main themes? Do what you can, with the tools at your disposal, right at this very moment instead of dwelling on the past or worrying about the future (I have read both The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy and can also recommend).

3. One Giants player who could pop early? Rookie wide receiver Jalin Hyatt out of Tennessee. I asked Hyatt specifically about the criticism of the Volunteers’ offense, and his point was an interesting one. Yes, Josh Heupel’s system creates a lot of space. It was labeled as “gimmicky” as most systems are when they are ahead of the curve (the West Coast offense was also called that once upon a time).

Hyatt said the amount of space Heupel’s system creates didn’t limit his route tree, but it actually forced him to be better in open space. Most teams wouldn’t play press–man coverage against Hyatt in college.

“Especially when defenders are playing off coverage, they’re five, seven yards deep,” Hyatt says. “Sometimes it makes it harder. Sometimes you want press man because if you just beat him off the line, you got him. If he’s 10 yards off the line, he can mirror you from that distance, especially when you’re running a slant or a dig route. So having so many people play off, it taught me how to move people off their line, how to move them out. That’s one thing I learned.”