In just eight months with the Nittany Lions, true freshman running back Saquon Barkley's impact has been undeniable, the program's strength and conditioning coach Dwight Galt said Wednesday:
The commotion started with a video Tuesday afternoon from the Twitter account of wideouts coach Josh Gattis.
In it, Penn State true freshman running back Saquon Barkley power cleans 390 pounds, tying an all-time program record with NFL prospect Anthony Zettel.
By Wednesday afternoon at Penn State's max squat day, the extent of Barkley's prowess came into fuller focus through the words of Galt.
As he'd come to explain, the 390 pound clean was just part of the impressive showing for Barkley's first winter workout session with the Nittany Lions. Benching 390 pounds, squatting 500 pounds for seven reps, and clocking a 4.38 second 40-yard dash (hand-timed), the running back immediately jumped out to Galt as a player who has excelled this winter.
"I think one guy that you guys saw that ran well, that lifted well, that really kind of fulfilled what we knew he's capable of is Saquon Barkley. Huge day," said Galt. "So this kid is for real. He's a tremendous athlete. But even better than that, he's a great leader, a great worker, he really epitomizes what we're all about. So he really did a nice job coming on."
Nudged to expand on Barkley's significance, and maybe more important, to contextualize what he means to the program as he progresses from his first year into the second, Galt offered up some very, very high praise.
"Saquon, he's a once every 10 year guy. A lot of people ask me what it was like training Vernon Davis. There you go. He's special," said Galt. "He's special in a lot of different areas. We don't get kids like that very often. The nice thing about him, just like Vernon, what makes Saquon special is not his physical gifts, it's his work ethic.
"There's a lot of guys who have come around, not necessarily at Penn State but throughout the country that have great physical attributes, great talent, but when you work like that, like he does, then you've really got something special. Obviously you've gotta watch him. He's a great leader as a kid who's been here for nine months, he's a great leader. He's not a loud guy, but he leads by example, leads by encouragement. He'll do anything for anybody. He's a great teammate. Saquon means a lot to this program and a lot more than just Saturdays on the field. A special guy."
