Should Saquon Barkley have been ranked higher than Hakeem Nicks on Giants Top 100?

With the theme of the upcoming 2024 season for the NY Giants being the celebration of the 100th season, fans of the team were in an uproar over the announcement of the best 100 Giants players list that began this summer.

What had the Giants fanbase angry was the placement of two former players. At No. 97 was Super Bowl-winning wide receiver Hakeem Nicks. Meanwhile at No. 95 is former Giant, now Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. Some people were angry over Barkley being on the list in general because of his departure from the franchise, which is also being shown on HBO’s Hard Knocks: Offseason. However, the anger was that Nicks was ranked lower than Barkley, even with it being just two spots.

Despite how his tenure with the Giants went and the events that have happened on social media, Barkley did express his gratitude to his former team on being included on the Top 100 players list.

Barkley and Nicks were both included, so NY is recognizing that in the 100 years of the team, both players had importance, despite being on the low end of the list. Nicks had two tenures on the Giants, with his first one starting from 2009 until 2013. After a year away and leaving as a free agent, Nicks returned to the Giants in 2015 mid-season. During his first tenure, Nicks was a major reason why the Giants won Super Bowl 46 and most fans remember his playoff run that led to that Super Bowl.

The 444 yards and four touchdowns were a big part of the run. His six-catch, 115-yard and two touchdown game against the Atlanta Falcons set the tone for that playoff run. Nicks followed it up with a seven-catch, 165-yard and two touchdown performance against the Green Bay Packers that really put the league on notice. Nicks also had 10 catches for 109 yards in the 21-17 Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots and cemented his legacy in Giants postseason history.

However, after a game in Week 2 of the 2012 season where Nicks had 10 catches for 199 yards and a touchdown in a victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Nicks wasn’t the same player, as the injuries began to take their toll on his body. That was the last 100-yard game of the season for Nicks and in 2013, Nicks not only didn’t reach 1,000 yards, but he didn’t even score a single touchdown. Nicks departed as a free agent to the Indianapolis Colts and his regression as a player continued, even with a quarterback like Andrew Luck.

In 2015, Nicks returned to the Giants in the middle of the season, but even with reuniting with Eli Manning, Nicks wasn’t the same receiver we all once saw hoist up the Lombardi Trophy. In the six games he was active for, Nicks had just seven catches for 54 yards and no touchdowns.

During his playing career, Nicks only had two 1,000-plus yard seasons and one year with double-digit touchdown catches. But, the playoff performance of the 2011 season is what many remember and why Nicks is still a beloved figure amongst the Giants fanbase. However, because his career didn’t have the kind of longevity that most were hopeful of when he was selected as a first-round pick back in 2009, Nicks isn’t as high on the list like some thought he should be.

On the other side of this is Barkley, whose Giants tenure ended back in March when he signed a three-year deal with the division rival Eagles. His tenure is seen with mixed emotions, especially since he was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft and given the “Golden jacket” expectations from the moment of his arrival.

Barkley’s rookie season was one for the ages, as he had 2,028 total yards. He posted 1,307 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns to go with 721 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns. That season led him to being named the 2018 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. After 2018, Barkley had two more 1,000-plus yard rushing seasons and almost had a third in 2023, but he never quite had the kind of season he did as a rookie and injuries were a part of that.

Barkley suffered three sprained ankle injuries in 2019, 2021 and 2023 that caused missed games. The biggest injury blow to Barkley’s career and stint with the Giants was suffering the torn ACL in Week 2 of the 2020 season that forced him to miss the final 14 games of that year and required season-ending surgery. It took almost two years for him to fully recover from that injury, as he didn’t look the same in 2021.

But in 2022, Barkley looked like the “Saquon of old” when he helped the Giants get to the postseason, as he rushed for 1,312 yards with 10 touchdowns and had 1,650 total yards. Barkley followed that season with a 100-total yard game and two-touchdown performance in the Giants 31-24 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in the 2022 Wild Card Game. Barkley, though, only had an 82-total yard game the following week in a 38-7 Divisional Round loss against the Eagles.

Most of Barkley’s final season was surrounded with the contract situation, as he played on the franchise tag and the speculation on his future was in question. Barkley missed a 1,000-yard rushing season by 38 yards and he only had one 100-yard rushing game. In the Giants final six games, Barkley failed to even reach 50 yards rushing in three of those contests and at times, he looked a step slow, which led many to think that the injuries had caught up to him. Barkley did score two touchdowns in the season finale against the team that signed him, so the Eagles thought otherwise.

So, who had the better Giants tenure? They’re both pretty similar with early impact and careers that were derailed by injuries. Nicks gets the nod for having the significant playoff run that led to the Super Bowl. Barkley, though, had one more 1,000-plus yard season and one more double-digit touchdown season. Saquon didn’t have the postseason run that Nicks did, but Barkley played a major role in the Giants first playoff win since Super Bowl 46 and ending an 11-year playoff win drought. Barkley also has the edge in hardware with the Rookie of the Year trophy.

After careful consideration, as the Giants did with the list that they constructed, the edge slightly does go to Barkley, even though Nicks still has the memorable playoff run that helped win a championship. Injuries were a major reason for Nicks’ tenure not being as long and the one many expected, thus why he was ranked at No. 97. At the same time. Barkley, who has the world of expectations on him from the second he got drafted, could have been a lot higher on the list and had he stayed with the team in free agency, there’s a chance he could have been much higher up on the list.

A lot of fans are a bit “caught up in the now moment” as far as where Barkley is on the list because of his exit from the team and where he landed. Had Barkley went to the Houston Texans, or stayed with the Giants, the fan anger likely isn’t there. But because Barkley is now considered an enemy on a rival, it sparked a lot of rage. And it’s understandable, as fans are still upset over how his exit went and they are seeing it all unfold each Tuesday night on HBO to go along with what was said on social media. A lot of those fans wanted Barkley to keep his word on being a “Giant for life” and instead of that happening, they have now put his jersey in the back of their closets as opposed to wearing them on Sunday afternoon.

With that said, in the end, both players are still on the list and considered parts of the Giants long and historic legacy, even though they’re both on the tail end of things. Both careers have the “what if” tag that surrounds it. But ultimately, the Giants did include them on their list as part of their upcoming season that celebrates the many players that were a part of the historic franchise and its legacy.