How Has New York Giants' Ground Game Really Been Without Saquon Barkley?

Let's line up the data and find out.

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

As Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, formerly of the New York Giants, rushes his way toward breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing yardage record (2,105 yards) set in 1984, the displeasure among Giants fans over general manager Joe Schoen’s decision not even to make an offer to Barkley this past offseason.

But as has been hotly debated before and which still seems to be the case, even if the Giants had brought Barkley back, there were questions about whether he could have accomplished with the Giants what he has accomplished this season with the Eagles given the stark differences in both teams’ offensive lines.

Per Pro Football Focus, the Eagles' offensive line currently ranks first in the league, while the Giants' injury-stricken offensive line ranks 29th. Schoen, in choosing to let Barkley walk, spent the money to upgrade the offensive line.

But thanks to injuries, the line that the team started the first six games of the season with, and which had looked far better than the historically bad versions of 2023, the Giants are now down to having just two starters (Jermaine Eluemunor and Greg Van Roten) set to play in Sunday’s Week 17 regular-season home finale against the Indianapolis Colts, with neither of those two projected to play the position they played in those first six games of the season.

That aside, the Giants’ 2024 rushing game without Barkley has been on par or better than the 2023 version with him. According to Pro Football Network, the Giants’ ground game is either on par or slightly better in some categories this year without Barkley than it was a year ago with Barkley. 

Stat Category	2023 (with Barkley)	2024 (without Barkley)
Yards Per Carry	4.1	4.3
Rushing TDs	10	12
1st Downs Per Rush	21.4%	25.7%
Success Rate	38.9%	42.3%
Yds Before Contact/Rush	1.51	1.53
Yds After Contact/Rush	2.62	2.81

And here, per data from Pro Football Focus, is how the Giants have done in the passing game (running backs only) with and without Barkley.

Stat Category	2023 (with Barkley)	2024 (without Barkley)
Targets	100	77
Receptions	77	62
Yards	463	456
Yards/Rec	6.01	7.35
Receiving TDs	4	1
YAC	466	538
Drop	9	8

Of course, as with anything, stats don’t tell the complete story. In 2023, Barkley missed three games due to an ankle injury, which, had he played, might have improved the overall 2023 numbers to bring them on par with what the Giants have done in 2024 so far.

While Barkley is undoubtedly still a generational talent who is proving to his doubters that he is still in his prime years, Schoen's decision to let Barkley leave hasn’t hurt the Giants as much from a production perspective based on the numbers.

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