With the Jets holding the no. 6 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, there's a chance Saquon Barkley falls to them. The electric running back would welcome that possibility as a boyhood Jets fan.
As all Jets fans understand and admit, there have been more than enough tough times while being a fan of the team. He jokes that if Jets GM Mike Maccagnan asks what he could do for the team, he might be a bit shy in his answer due to his fandom.
"I'll probably be a little more shy 'cause I was a Jets fan growing up, a true, true Jets fan," Barkley tells Steve Serby of NY Post. "There's been some rough years, there's been some good years, been really close a couple of years with the Mark Sanchez Era, two years in a row AFC Championship, falling short."
When asked why playing in New York would be so appealing to him, Barkley needed few words.
"New York, New York. It's known all through the world. I wasn't raised there, but I was born there [Bronx]. It would kind of be like going home. It's also not that far from my actual home [Coplay, Pa.]."
Barkley says former Jet Curtis Martin is someone that he loved watching growing up, and that Martin is underrated.
"He's like a hidden gem," Barkley said. "A lot of people when you talk about the greatest running backs who ever played, Curtis Martin's not mentioned. He doesn't get the attention he deserves."
In his junior season at Penn State, Barkley rushed for 1,271 yards and 18 touchdowns while winning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year for the second time. He added another 632 receiving yards on 54 catches with three touchdowns. He returned two kicks for touchdowns and even threw a passing touchdown. His 3,843 career rushing yards at Penn State fall just 90 yards shy of breaking the school's career rushing record, held by Evan Royster.
Barkley will find out his future on April 26, when the first round of the NFL Draft commences.
