NFL Draft 2018: 3 reasons Saquon Barkley should be No. 1 pick

2. Freshness

A knock that I have heard about Barkley throughout much of the draft process is that he wasn’t used enough at Penn State and some are afraid that he won’t be able to “handle the load”. This view makes no sense and as a matter of fact, should be a plus for anyone with the possibility of drafting Barkley.

If a player has been fed the ball over and over again throughout their college career, they’re likely going to wear down sooner rather than later.

An great example of this Marcus Allen once he was traded from the Raiders to the Chiefs in the early 90’s. Allen’s production had gone way down from his early years with the Raiders and after he was traded to Kansas City, put up solid numbers, rushing for 700 or more yards in four of his five seasons with the Chiefs, while in his mid 30s as well.

A stat shown by many to discredit Barkley is the amount of 20-carry games he had in his Penn State career, which is only two. What they don’t show is the amount of times he touched the ball all together. In his junior season alone, Barkley carried the ball 212 times, caught the ball 54 times, and returned 14 kickoffs throughout the whole season. Barkley has been utilized and he will benefit greatly from not haven been beaten down throughout his college career.