The season premiere of the HBO program “Hard Knocks” went into detail about losing Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. This episode sparked the decades-long Eagles-Giants rivalry, with wide receiver A.J. Brown taking to Twitter to respond to the episode. However, the comments made in this episode were ultimately harmless and only served to spark competition between the two teams.
Eagles Running Back Saquon Barkley Discussed on “Hard Knocks”
Barkley’s “Fit” With The Giants
The season premiere featured sections where the Giants front office were discussing whether to bring back Barkley. They also discussed his fit into their future plans. According to Sports Illustrated, the front office didn’t see much of a long-term future for Barkley. Most of the closed-door conversations about the running back were about the franchise tagging him and trading him for future assets.
“Do you feel good about eating $3 million to $4 million for a fifth-round pick?” Giants Assistant GM Brandon Brown said.
Other concerns raised were regarding the mileage on Barkley at this stage in his career. Giants GM Joe Schoen talked about how running backs tend to decline at age 27 and how he already had 900 carries at Penn State on top of his NFL career.
Other outlets like MSN quoted Schoen saying “This is the year for Daniel(Jones).” Schoen also talked about how you don’t pay a quarterback $40 million to “hand the ball off to a $12 million back.”
A.J. Brown Responds
These comments throughout the episode caught the attention of Brown. Sports Illustrated shared the now-deleted tweet from Brown’s account defending Barkley.
“The Saquon video fired me up and it wasn’t even about me. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you get yours fam.” Brown said.
Despite offensive line issues with the Giants and injuries, Barkley was still fourth all-time in rushing for the franchise.
Barkley will be looking to prove the franchise wrong on the field. He’d have to stay healthy, and running behind what Pro Football Focus ranked the second-best offensive line with the Eagles, certainly gives him an advantage to have a successful season.
