Philadelphia Eagles: Grading the first round picks of the NFC East

With the second pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the New York Giants selected Saquon Barkley, running back, Penn State.

In a move that very few people didn’t see coming, as they had all but made it known to the football world that Barkley was going to be their guy when they withheld the number 26 from their voluntary minicamp, the Giants took one final shot at winning now.

Is this decision misguided? You be the judge.

While Barkley is probably the best player in the entire 2018 NFL Draft, think Ezekiel Elliott without the off-field issues, a monkey wrench was almost thrown into the team’s plans when the Cleveland Browns selected Baker Mayfield first overall, in a move that left Sam Darnold on the board at number two.

Though the Giants ultimately decided to pass on Darnold to gave Eli Manning an incredibly dynamic weapon for one final shot at another Super Bowl run, Barkley’s career will now forever be linked to that of Darnold’s, and if he develops into a franchise quarterback with the other New York team, while the Giants struggle to find Manning’s successor, it will go down as a major miss.

Related Story: NFC East race becomes more interesting with Saquon Barkley

Expect Barkley to be used all over the new head coach Pat Shurmur‘s offense, and potentially terrorize NFC East opponents, like the Eagles, for the foreseeable future.

Grade: B+