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2018 NFL Draft: Should 49ers pick Penn State’s Saquon Barkley if he falls?

By Aaron Tan

GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 30: Running back Saquon Barkley #26 of the Penn State Nittany Lions runs the football 92 yards to score a touchdown against the Washington Huskies during the first half of the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium on December 30, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 30: Running back Saquon Barkley #26 of the Penn State Nittany Lions runs the football 92 yards to score a touchdown against the Washington Huskies during the first half of the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium on December 30, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /
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With running back Carlos Hyde’s departure from the San Francisco 49ers seemingly imminent, San Francisco needs a running back. Should the team take Penn State’s Saquon Barkley in the NFL Draft?

Penn State running back Saquon Barkley has been a nationwide phenomenon in the realm of football, and he hasn’t even played a down in the NFL yet. I can’t remember the last time a running back prospect was this hyped up by the media and experts going into the NFL Draft.

So this begs the question as to why I am even writing this article. The 49ers are picking No. 9 or No. 10 in the draft, so Barkley wouldn’t even come close to falling to the Niners, right?

Well, actually no. Benjamin Allbright, a trustworthy NFL insider, tweeted this out a week ago:

Yes, some media and draft experts are already crowning him as the best prospect in the draft, but those people don’t work for NFL teams’ front offices.

There is a very real possibility that Saquon Barkley falls to the 49ers, who are in need of a running back if Carlos Hyde is not re-signed, which I don’t think he will be.

So, should the 49ers pull the trigger on Barkley if he indeed falls to their draft spot?

Pros

Barkley is heralded as one of the best running back prospects to come out in some time for good reason.

Barkley has this natural tendency to hit the home run every time he touches the football even with a mediocre offensive line. He’s so shifty and has great vision, a dangerous combination that allows him to find openings to run through.

And once he’s in the open field? Well, it’s game over then.

In the open field, Barkley is almost always unstoppable. He constantly wins one-on-one matchups, either spinning, hurdling or juking against defenders to break through. And I can’t leave out his game-breaking speed that he uses to leave the secondary in the dust.

The Penn State running back is also a natural receiving back, running surprisingly good routes on pass plays. Barkley will almost always beat linebackers in man coverage, so defenses will be scared to call all-out blitz packages against him in the NFL. Barkley’s elite receiving abilities would translate well into the Kyle Shanahan offense, a scheme that dials up a plethora of plays that utilizes the running back as a receiver.

Barkley is the running back that you can count on most when it comes to big-play potential. Any team would be lucky to have such a dangerous offensive weapon.

Cons

Barkley lives by the home-run play, but also dies by it. He dances around too much at the line of scrimmage trying to find an open hole. Because of this, he sometimes even goes backwards and gets tackled resulting in a loss of yards. He will need to get coached up to avoid this habit and be quicker in his decisions on where to run.

Also, Barkley isn’t much of a power back. He does fall forward after contact, but isn’t great at trucking over defenders or anything that requires him to use his upper-body strength. I don’t think he would serve well as a goal-line back.

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Finally, I obviously cannot forget the Shanahan draft method on running backs. Both Shanahan and his father, Mike Shanahan, love finding sleeper running backs in the late rounds of the draft and making them productive. It’s basically a tradition at this point, but will Kyle Shanahan break it to pick Barkley?

Conclusion

Yes, I think that he will. Barkley is truly a generational talent, and I think that he is too good of a prospect to pass up on.

Next: Which 49ers rookie offered the most value in 2017?

Barkley isn’t just a big name that would propel the 49ers up the power rankings by the media. He proves that he deserves this type of recognition in his play, and Kyle Shanahan would do wonders with him.