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Giants' Saquon Barkley has intense offseason goal: Evaluate every single play

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley had a rookie campaign for the ages, joining Edgerrin James and Eric Dickerson as the only three rookie running backs in history to eclipse 2,000 yards from scrimmage, while breaking countless other league and franchise records along the way.

And while Barkley could cap his whirlwind year with the 2018 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, it wasn’t enough to satisfy the young superstar.

As part of his offseason goals, Barkley tells Madelyn Burke of Giants.com that he intends to evaluate every single play from the past season in which he was involved or touched the ball. Talk about being a perfectionist.

“Something that helps me a lot and is also one of my downfalls, I’m an over-thinker. I over-think a lot, I over-analyze a lot,” Barkley said. “I normally go back and watch every single play that I had; watch every single time I had the ball in my hands and just see what I could have done better.

“I think that’s where you can grow the most, when you are your biggest critic and when you’re honest with yourself. When you can look at film and say, ‘I messed up there’ and ‘I have to be better there.’ When you learn from mistakes and you [fix] them, it’s going to make you a better player.”

Barkley touched the ball 352 times (261 rushes, 91 receptions) as a rookie, so there’s quite a substantial amount of film to pour over for the 21-year-old, but his drive rivals that of Odell Beckham Jr. — there won’t be a lack of individual motivation for two guys who aim to be the best ever.

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