There’s one word that keeps coming up when you ask the Carolina Panthers about Saquon Barkley:
Leverage.
Leverage is incredibly important in the game of football, whether it’s flipping hips at the correct moment as a defensive back or putting your punch in exactly the right spot as a defensive tackle or even leaping to high-point the ball as a wide receiver, but when you’re going against a running back like the 2018 number two pick, leverage is exactly what you’re going to need to stop the jump-cut back who is only the fifth player in NFL history to record at least 100 scrimmage yards in each of his first four NFL games and has scored in his last two contests.
“If you like pro football, if you like the run game, you’re going to like this guy. Now I don’t like him because he’s on the other side, but he’s big, [he has] great contact balance – he’s already broken some runs,” said defensive coordinator Eric Washington about the back who has the second-most targets among NFL running backs through four games. “He’s going to be a tough guy to get down, we’ve got to suffocate him with as much population and as many bodies to the football, even away from your gap assignments.”
“So you may be assigned here, but once that thing declares over here, you’ve got to get over there, so we’ve been really stressing and emphasizing that.”
Emphasizing so that things like this don’t happen:
.@Saquon takes off for 28 yards and the #NYGiants are back in business. #NOvsNYG pic.twitter.com/aZZMuxh8Gq
— New York Giants (@Giants) September 30, 2018
“He’s steady – he’ll get three or four yards a carry and then he’ll pop a big one,” said Ron Rivera. “He’s a threat out of the backfield, he catches the ball well and runs well – runs very well. If you’re in man coverage, you’ve got to be in the proper leverage position against him; he has potential to have a big play at any point.”
Barkley already has a 68-yard touchdown run under his belt – his first carry in the NFL went for 39 yards; the big plays can come at any point.
An elusive running back that excels at catching the ball out of the backfield probably sounds extremely familiar to Carolina Panthers fans, and Ron Rivera agrees that Christian McCaffrey and Barkley have similar skillsets, although Barkley may be a little thicker than the Panthers 2017 first-round pick. But it’s all about how you use them – and the two backs have been used similiarly thus far, at least from a numbers standpoint.
While the Panthers will certainly focus on stopping Barkley, there’s another weapon who will be patiently waiting for the linebackers and safeties to pay too much attention to the running game or Barkley coming out of the backfield – give up an inch and you’re liable to get beat by Odell Beckham, Jr., who needed the fewest games in NFL history to reach 200 receptions and 3,000 yards receiving; one man that knows how dangerous Beckham can be is cornerback Ross Cockrell, who practiced against the mercurial wide receiver for the first quarter of 2017 before Beckham went out with an ankle injury.
“He creates explosive plays; he’ll go down the field, he has great run after catch, he’s got that speed,” said Cockrell, who is on injured reserve after suffering a broken leg during training camp. “It’s going to be a team effort, because you do see a lot of inside breaking routes that go to the house for whatever reason; obviously [Bradberry], Donte, all the guys – it’s going to be very important that they’re on him and tackling him after the catch, but if not – Mike, Eric and Colin – it’s going to be tough for them.”
Beckham excels at picking up yards after the catch – the 25 year old has the fourth-most YAC in the NFC since he came into the league in 2014, despite missing 12 games last season. He’ll be followed by cornerback James Bradberry, who over the past two weeks has been in charge of Julio Jones and AJ Green – the third-year corner has limited the two of the top wideouts in the league to 10 catches and 122 yards combined; now ‘JB’ will face off with Beckham, who has had three touchdowns in the first four games of 2018.
“For JB, he knows that almost every play, the ball is coming to him, but he’s playing really well,” said Cockrell. “He’s been up there, getting hands on guys at the line of scrimmage and when he’s playing off, he’s not giving up many deep passes – he’s not giving up many yards after catch; I’ve been very impressed with what they’ve all done – JB especially.”
One player that’s going to help with both the Barkley and the Beckham problems that the Giants offense present will be new safety Eric Reid, whom the Panthers brought in last Thursday after placing Da’Norris Searcy on injured reserve – Reid has been spending most of his time at the Panthers facility trying to learn the new playbook, but it’s his natural abilities that will make life difficult for Barkley, Beckham and former Panthers-now-Giants offensive coordinator Mike Shula.
“He brings big speed – I mean BIG speed – he’s a big safety; that helps you in the run game,” said Washington about his newest safety, whom the coaching staff says will definitely play – and hopefully be able to start – on Sunday. “He’s a physical presence, he’ll help us when he’s close to the box and then he’s going to be a tough guy to throw the ball over. On his own, without comparing or contrasting, he brings a formidable [skillset] that we’ll be utilizing a lot.”
Panthers guard Brendan Mahon, who spent three years blocking for Barkley at Penn State, says you can’t lean on his tendencies the runner has shown on tape – he’s got an unlimited supply of them; the defensive linemen know that gap discipline and fundamental play will be extra important this week to prevent big plays – Wes Horton says the frontside defenders will be in charge of setting the edge and forcing the cutbacks while the backside defenders get to the upfield shoulder and “tempo” where the running back wants to go.
Eric Washington puts it more succinctly.
“If you don’t have the proper leverage against the cutback, he can run around your defense.”
“We have our hands full.”
