Saquon Barkley is letting his brilliant combine do the talking.
The potential No. 1 overall pick did not participate in athletic testing at Tuesday's pro day at Penn State, instead meeting with teams and showing support to his teammates participating. His most notable on-field contribution may have been tossing a football around—perhaps previewing a potential running back pass trick play in the future:
Barkley was initially scheduled to participate in running back drills. However, there was no running back coach available for the session, so Barkley was a non-participant. Kimberly Jones of NFL Network noted that NFL evaluators were still "raving" about Penn State's all-time leader in rushing touchdowns.
Barkley once again declined to offer a preference on which team selects him in next month's draft.
"You can't be upset with any team who drafts you or you can't want any other team to draft you more. You're blessed with the opportunity to play the sport you love. Whether it's the Browns, Giants, Jets, Colts, so on and so on, whatever team drafts me, the only thing I can promise them is that you're going to get a guy who is going to come in and is going to work," Barkley said on ESPN's SportsCenter (h/t Land of 10).
"I'm going to work my butt off, I'm going to push my teammates. I'm going to push myself every day. I'm going to try to take a role as a leader. I'll always be passionate for my team. I can't promise you stats. I can't promise you awards. I can't promise you playoffs. But [work ethic] is the only thing I can promise you. It's something I can guarantee you from Day 1."
Barkley didn't have much to prove to scouts following the combine in Indianapolis. The All-American ran a 4.4-second 40, had 29 reps on the bench press and had a 41-inch vertical leap after measuring at 6'0" and 233 pounds, placing him among the best athletes at the combine in recent memory.
He's widely expected to go somewhere within the first four picks, and representatives from the Cleveland Browns, New York Giants and New York Jets were all in attendance. The most likely landing spots at this juncture appear to be Cleveland at No. 4 or the Giants at No. 2. The Browns will almost certainly take a quarterback with the top overall pick, leaving the Giants a choice between Barkley and their quarterback of the future.
The Jets traded up to No. 3 last week in a deal with the Colts, ostensibly locking them into taking a quarterback.
While there wasn't much of note from Barkley on Tuesday, there's little question he'll be the first skill position player off the board after the top quarterbacks are drafted.
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