Saquon Barkley聽was a human life raft for the struggling聽聽in 2018. He's been honored for his efforts by the writers who cover the NFL, earning the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
Selected second overall in the 2018 draft, Barkley lived up to the expectations, rushing for 1,307 yards (second most in NFL) and 11 touchdowns on 261 carries, and catching 91 passes (tying聽聽Jr. for most for a聽rookie in team history) for 721 yards and four touchdowns. Barkley was a human highlight reel, running through, around and leaping over defenders all season while finishing with the most scrimmage yards (2,028) in the NFL. Arguably no one was more important to his team than Barkley was to the聽.
His play was a welcome sight for a聽聽team that again battled through key injuries and struggled mightily early due in part to a porous offensive line that saw its starting tackle benched in Week 3. His 352 touches were the second most in the NFL, underscoring his importance to the聽, who saw聽聽overcome early issues to post a respectable 92.4 passer rating.
Barkley's scrimmage yards total was the third most from a rookie in NFL history, trailing only Eric Dickerson (2,212) and Edgerrin James (2,139) in that category. Barkley also caught more passes (91) than any rookie running back in NFL history, besting Reggie Bush's mark of 88 from his rookie season in New Orleans. His 1,307 yards and 721 receiving yards made him one of only two players in the NFL with 1,000-plus rushing yards and 700-plus receiving yards (Carolina's聽聽was the other).
Barkley beat out聽听辩耻补谤迟别谤产补肠办听Baker Mayfield聽for the honor. Barkley amassed 26.5 votes to Mayfield's 21.5 votes. Mayfield also finished second to Barkley in voting in the聽fan voting in an award announced earlier in the week after the quarterback set a new rookie passing touchdown record with 27 in just 13 1/2 games.
