Sports Illustrated: Saquon Barkley nation’s top running back
On Friday, Sports Illustrated concluded what many Penn State fans have already known — Saquon Barkley is the best running back in the nation.
The website ranked the top 100 players in college football and put Barkley at No. 5 overall behind only Houston DT Ed Oliver, Louisville QB Lamar Jackson, Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield and Florida State S Derwin James.
Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley (No. 41) and tight end Mike Gesicki (No. 81) also made the cut.
SI’s Chris Johnson had this to say about Barkley: “The deep class of established running backs ... returning to college football last season obscured how good Barkley was and the amount of damage he was about to inflict on defenses tasked with trying to stop him. ... Opponents were mostly helpless trying to hold Barkley in check, and offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead should find even more creative ways to use the incandescent junior.”
The next-best running back, according to the list, was LSU’s Derrius Guice who came in at No. 17. The next-best Big Ten player was Michigan DL Rashan Gary, who was No. 22.
Barkley needs just 1,361 yards to break the Penn State career rushing record by surpassing Evan Royster’s mark of 3,932 yards. That’s very much in play for the Nittany Lion junior, who last season rushed for 1,496 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Top-10 RBs
These are the nation's top 10 RBs, according to Sports Illustrated, and where they ranked within college football's top 100 overall players:
93. Ralph Webb, Vanderbilt
92. Ronald Jones II, USC
78. Royce Freeman, Oregon
66. Nick Chubb, Georgia
48. Kamryn Pettway, Auburn
36. Myles Gaskin, Washington
31. Justin Jackson, Northwestern
23. Bo Scarbrough, Alabama
17. Derrius Guice, LSU
5. Saquon Barkley, Penn State
This story was originally published June 30, 2017 at 6:11 PM with the headline "Sports Illustrated: Saquon Barkley nation’s top running back."