National Football League

Are the Giants underutilizing Saquon Barkley as a pass catcher?

Updated Oct. 12, 2022 7:02 p.m. ET

By Ralph Vacchiano
FOX Sports NFC East Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — There has been something of a miracle at the Meadowlands this season, and it's not just that the Giants are 4-1. It's how they've done it — with one of the worst passing games, and very likely the worst receiving corps in the league.

At some point, if they want to sustain their success, they're going to have to address that. And at this point they can't exactly count on Kadarius Toney, Kenny Golladay or even rookie Wan'Dale Robinson shaking off their injuries and providing a boost. They could go sign someone like Odell Beckham or even make a trade, but it's not like they have the salary cap space or the inclination to do that.

So it's a good thing they have a solution on their roster.

Now all they have to do is turn Saquon Barkley loose.

"He's got great hands, he's a good route runner, he can get open," said Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. "He poses a matchup issue for defenses. I think those are all reasons to try to throw him the ball."

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So why aren't they doing it more?

Barkley has basically carried the Giants' offense so far this season, staking his Offensive Player of the Year case with 533 rushing yards (second in the NFL). But it's a bit of a mystery that he really hasn't gotten involved that much as a receiver. He has just 18 catches for 143 yards through the first five games and has only been targeted 23 times on 135 passes.

It sure looked like new coach Brian Daboll was preparing to do a lot more with Barkley out of the backfield during training camp this summer. After all, Barkley had already showed his receiving prowess as a rookie in 2018 when he had 91 catches for 721 yards and four touchdowns to go with his 1,307 rushing yards en route to winning the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Thanks to injuries and inept coaching he hasn't approached those numbers since, but he's healthy now and seemingly playing for a much better coaching staff.

To be fair, it's not like they're ignoring him in the passing game entirely. Barkley is actually the Giants' leading receiver, with 18 catches for 143 yards. But this is really more about the Giants' other options. The Giants' second-leading receiver is Richie James (17 catches for 171 yards), who figured to be their fourth receiver this season. With Sterling Shepard out for the season, there's no other healthy player with more than 10.

It's no wonder the Giants' passing game ranks 31st. How much success could they possibly have with James, Davis Sills (8 for 74) and Darius Slayton (7-90) as their top receivers, while pulling fill-in players like Marcus Johnson (who had 3 for 35 in a win against the Packers) off the street?

The answer seems to be obvious. None of them have the talent or ability as a receiver that Barkley does. And Daboll didn't really have a good explanation for why they're not using him in that role more. He essentially blamed it on the number of other options Jones has in passing situations.

"We've used him in a variety of roles, along with a lot of other guys too," Daboll said. "But again, our job is to figure out what our guys do good and try to put them in those spots."

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Receiving, though, is something Barkley does really well. And he has been targeted on 17 percent of the Giants' passes so far (23 targets in 135 total attempts), which is actually high for a Daboll offense. In his four years running the offense in Buffalo, running backs were only targeted 15.4 percent of the time, and that actually dipped to just 13.8 percent over the last two years as the Bills' offense really took flight.

But here's where the disconnect comes in: The Bills, especially the last three years, had much better receivers — Stefon Diggs, John Brown, Gabriel Davis and Emmanuel Sanders and tight end Dawson Knox. Those are all better than any receiver the Giants have used this season. They didn't have a pressing need to throw the ball to their running backs.

The Giants do — and it seems like it's a huge need. And Barkley is so good that he could be really dangerous if they can get him into a mismatch in the open field, especially if they can do it down the field.

But so far, that doesn't appear to be in the game plan. Despite often lining him up wide and working on his pass-catching skills in training camp this summer, Barkley has only lined up as a receiver 17 times this season, according to Pro Football Focus, and he's only been split out wide six times. And despite practicing plenty of wheel routes and other plays where he was sent deep, he's only been targeted twice when he's 10 yards downfield or farther, and neither of those throws resulted in a catch.

That means it's mostly been runs or screen passes to Barkley. To be fair, almost every time he's been sent on a pass route, he's had a couple of defenders right on top of him. Not surprisingly, Jones said, "I think any time he goes anywhere on the field defenses are looking for him."

And yet, he produces. He's piled up the rushing yards against defenses designed to stop him. He's a master at sidestepping tacklers and making violent cuts that make defenders look foolish now that he's clearly fully healthy again. There's no reason why the coaching staff can't get creative with him in the passing game too, trying to create those mismatches they crave.

Barkley doesn't need to do more to be the Giants' most valuable player.

It just feels like he could.

"I think we'll continue to look at it and see ways that we can get the ball to him in space whether that's throwing him the ball or letting him run with it," Jones said. "I think he's been extremely productive in a lot of forms. Whenever he's touched the ball, he's been effective. We'll continue to look for ways to do that."

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.