Nerds are gonna be discussing the Giants selection of Saquon Barkley for a long, long time. All of us are.

The Giants selected a running back #2 overall and a lot of people are either upset about it or laughing about it. Even with Barkley being probably one of the highest rated RB prospects in years. It’s hard to argue with the logic from the statistical nerd perspective. RBs just aren’t as inherently valuable anymore. The NFL system no longer relies on the RB as the backbone of a team. The position just doesn’t hold the level of value it used to. From a statistical value perspective, drafting Barkley at #2 was a mistake. If Barkley turns into a hall of famer, it was still statistically a mistake. It’s a mistake the same way trading up in the second round to draft a kicker is a mistake, regardless of how good the kicker ends up being. If Darnold, Allen, Rosen, and every other position end up being ass and Barkley turns into the only good 2018 first rounder it was still, from a value-based positional statistical perspective, not the wisest move. It was a risk.

Now we wait to see if he ends up being an exception that shows teams the value of taking risks, or an example of why it was a mistake. I feel bad for the kid. He’s gotta be a hell of a stud to keep the “I told you so” crowds at bay.

But while I agree that from that statistical perspective (and from the perspective that the Giants need a QB for the future) this may not have been a good move, anyone saying this was a bad pick is kind of being an idiot. This is only a bad pick if Barkley busts or is below average. Barkley was in many eyes the best prospect in the entire draft. The best player available. If Barkley lives up to half the hype he had coming in, the dude is not a bad pick, just maybe not the best pick given the circumstances. The Giants got better. For all the talk about how you can plug and play any cheap RB these days the Giants have not been able to do that at all. Part of that is the offensive line. Part of that is coaching. But part of that is just the players not being that great. The Giants haven’t had a talented back since Ahmad Bradshaw was young and healthy, and our running game has been abysmal as fuck. No team has respected our running game in years, which means defenses can stick extra men in coverage and send rushers at Eli more, which hasn’t ended well. OBJ’s ridiculous talent more or less carried the offense these past 3 seasons.

The Giants did a little bit of upgrading at OL. They drafted a mauler guard named Will Hernandez who should help the weak inside line. They threw moneybags at Nate Solder, so at the very least Eli’s blindside will be protected by some actual competence now. And instead of relying on Paul “What’s a hole look like” Perkins or the myriad of other failures we’ve had back there, we should have an actual asset. Someone who can make plays out of busted blocking. Someone who can catch a ball and make defenders pay in space. An actual, honest to god weapon, even when the pocket breaks down and Eli has to dump it. So yeah, on this front, I’m kinda with grumpy old Gettleman. Saquon Barkley may not have been the best or wisest pick at #2, but anyone calling him THE WORST PICK even before the dude plays a down is a goddamn moron who should probably get a wedgie.

Barkley was a risky decision at #2, but if he is good, it’s far from a bad pick. It’s just not the best pick the Giants could have made. In any case I’m excited to see what an actual talented RB looks like for the first time in a while.

Also Allen was the worst pick in round one lol Bills.

Shut up, nerds.