By: Kylan Watson

Last week, the National Football League (NFL) held its yearly scouting combine. There players have a chance to show their talents to representatives from each NFL team. At the end of the combine some players prove that they are worthy of being a first round draft pick and some fall to the later rounds.  One player who rose to the occasion, and showed that the spotlight was not too big for him was Saquon Barkley. Barkley proved that he may be the best player in his draft class.

Barkley had a great combine, he ran a 4.40 in the 40-yard dash. This time was one of the fastest times in the history of the combine. Barkley’s speed is comparable to Adrian Peterson, and the only player that had a better 40 time than both is Calvin Johnson.

This feat is even more impressive when you consider the fact that Barkley is 240-pounds most running backs at that size are slow, but not Barkley.

Barkley is not a one-hit wonder he had a stellar junior season which cemented his place as a top draft pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Barkley ran for 1257 yards, averaged 5.9 yards per game, and had 18 touchdowns.  Barkley may be the best running back to come out of Penn State since Larry Johnson.

Barkley is an athletic freak at his position, with a 41-inch vertical jump.  Most teams in the NFL would be crazy to pass on drafting Barkley, who has once in a generation talent. Barkley can not only change the fortunes of the team that drafts him, but he will change the way we look at the running back position, just like Adrian Peterson did.