Anticipation grows for Barkley with NFL Combine commencement

Mike Mayock’s mind is made up.

The NFL Network analyst has surveyed the landscape of the best running backs in college football now ready to prove their mettle at the next level. In fact, he’s surveyed all of the best players in college football now ready to prove their mettle at the next level.

And through all of that research and evaluation, Penn State running back Saquon Barkley has emerged.

“Saquon Barkley is a transformational back,” Mayock said this week via teleconference. “I would put him in the same category as Fournette, Gurley, and Zeke Elliott, all of whom have been Top 10 picks and made their teams better immediately.”

This week, Barkley will formally begin the process of putting that ability on display in the NFL.

Set to appear at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Barkley weighed-in Wednesday and will be in front of reporters Thursday before completing his NFL Combine workout Friday. The early results were eye-popping.

Barkley has not yet indicated whether or not he will participate in every physical test or positional drill, but Mayock made clear that the combine presents an opportunity more than anything else.

Already considered one of the top prospects in all of college football and Mayock’s No. 1-ranked running back in the draft, Barkley can equate his performance to that of a “victory celebration.”

“Really, all it is is confirmation of his physical gifts. For a guy like Barkley who has worked so hard to develop his gifts, for him, it ought to be a victory celebration. It really should,” said Mayock. “You gotta come in and knock it down, one drill after another. He's going to walk out of there four days later and everyone's going to go, ‘Wow. He's just as good or better than we thought he was.’ When he goes into the meetings at night, he's going to blow people away also.”

Certainly, Barkley was able to do as much throughout his three-year career at Penn State.

A consensus All-American last season, Barkley routinely dazzled on the field while cementing his place in the conversation with the Nittany Lions’ all-time greats. The impressions he left away from the field, however, proved to be equally significant in the minds of his Penn State teammates and coaches.

“Everybody talks about the yards and the touchdowns and the hurdles and all those types of things. But for the people that have been able to get to know Saquon Barkley, he’s a better person,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said in November. “He’s got a smile on his face every single day. He’s a tremendous teammate. He’s happier when other guys score than he is for himself. He’s been a model citizen off the field. He’s killed it in the classroom. He’s just been awesome.

“I’m very, very proud of him and his total development since he’s arrived on our campus and that’s because of the hard work of a lot of people in our program, but most importantly, that’s because of Saquon Barkley wanting to be great in everything that he does. So, I’m really proud of him (and) blessed to have coached him.”

Now on the precipice of bringing that greatness to the grand stage of the NFL Combine, Barkley is already being grouped alongside some of the best to arrive at the next level in recent seasons.

And, with those expectations sweeping Barkley into the combine weekend as one of the most anticipated participants, Mayock is expecting a similarly lofty draft status.

“I talk about the last three or four running being backs that went in the Top 10, which were (Leonard) Fournette, Ezekiel Elliott went at four, (Todd) Gurley went at 10, (Christian) McCaffrey went at eight. They're the last four Top 10 backs. They've all helped their teams become better,” said Mayock. “I could make the case that this kid Barkley is the best of those guys, best of all five of them. He's clean off the field, and he'll be great in your locker room. I would be absolutely stunned if this kid doesn't go in the top five.”