Giants fear Saquon Barkley has torn ACL

The Giants fear the worst with Saquon Barkley

The Giants season was already in doubt after just two weeks, as they’re likely to fall to 0-2 in Joe Judge’s first year at the helm. Unfortunately, that’s the least of their problems right now.

Saquon Barkley, the centerpiece of the Giants offense, went down with a knee injury on Sunday afternoon. Barkley was expected to thrive this season as Daniel Jones hopefully developed into an impact NFL passer. Neither of those has happened just yet, and Barkley could be out long-term, exposing Jones to NFL pass-rushers without a real outlet.

After Barkley went down due to injury he was immediately taken to the locker room. The Penn State product looked visibly frustrated on the sidelines, and the Giants ruled him out right away. There’s fear within the organization that he could be out for the season with an ACL injury.

Without Barkley, the Giants offense will get very predictable, very fast

Expect Dion Lewis to step in for Barkley as the primary running back should Barkley be forced out long-term. Lewis has some experience as the main back not just in New York, but in competitive, winning situations as well in New England.

Barkley remains a cornerstone in the Giants offense. They knew that when they selected him second overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. But delaying New York’s timeline even further won’t fair well with Dave Gettleman, who’s already on the hot seat heading into the 2020 season. Little to no improvement this year could very well be the end of Gettleman in New York, and deservedly so even should Barkley be out long term.