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Giants Now (6/22): Giants celebrate Father's Day; Saquon makes list of highest-graded RBs of decade

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Giants celebrate Father's Day with their children, loved ones

Giants players celebrate with their children and loves ones on Father's Day.

View photos of the Giants' active roster as it currently stands.

Pro Football Focus ranks Saquon as one of top rookie RBs of the decade

Saquon Barkley took the league by storm his rookie season. After being selected with the second overall pick in the 2018 draft, the Bronx native went on to play all 16 games and accumulated 2,028 yards from scrimmage and 15 touchdowns. Barkley set the NFL record for receptions by a rookie running back with his 91 catches and the record for most 100+ yards from scrimmage games by a rookie with 12. He joined Eric Dickerson and Edgerrin James as the only players to reach 2,000 yards from scrimmage in their rookie season.

Barkley also set Giants franchise records for most rushing touchdowns in a season by a rookie, most rushing yards in a season by a rookie, and most total touchdowns in a season by a rookie.

The talented running back took home numerous honors that year, including the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year award, the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award and the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Year award, He was named to the Pro Football Writers Association's All-Rookie Team and the AP All-Rookie Team, and was also selected to the 2019 Pro Bowl.

Pro Football Focus recently recognized Barkley for his phenomenal rookie campaign. The analytics site listed the Giants' star back as one of the highest-graded rookie running backs of the decade with an overall grade of 85.2.

View photos of Giants running back Saquon Barkley's time with the New York Giants.

Joe Judge: Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley stepping into leadership roles

NFL Network’s Kim Jones spoke to Giants head coach Joe Judge recently about several topics, including some players who have already started to step up as leaders. One is quarterback Daniel Jones. While Judge is encouraged by what he saw on film from the quarterback during his rookie campaign, the head coach is more impressed with what he has witnessed from Jones over the last few months.

"Just watching his rookie tape, obviously, he has a skillset to work with," Judge said. "He throws a good, accurate ball, has good arm strength. There are some things he has to improve on. I'm not going to get into a full assessment right here, criticizing him in public just yet, but I would just say he's got a skillset.

"I've been more impressed with the way he's worked off the field than anything else right now. He's had a very good spring. He's been very active in our virtual meetings. Demonstrated a passion for the game, demonstrated a very good command of the new system and recall. Good situational awareness. And you can tell he loves football. That's one thing that's really come through with our experiences this spring. We do have a lot of team-first guys who really love the game. That carries over to how they work on a daily basis."

The development of the second-year quarterback will play a significant role in the offense's success this season, but he is far from the only one.

The Giants will also look to Saquon Barkley to take on an even bigger role this year. Based on what he's seen from Barkley throughout the virtual offseason program, Judge is confident that the 23-year-old is ready to become one of the team's leaders.

"You know what, I've really enjoyed working with him this spring," Judge told Jones. "That entire running back group has been phenomenal in terms of their work ethic, their personalities, how to come (to work), how they support each other. They genuinely care about each other and help each other.

"I think Saquon has really demonstrated that team-first attitude, and it all starts with that. You talk about leadership and doing your job effectively, making decisions that put the team first, he has demonstrated that this spring. And you have to have that. He's a competitor. He cares about winning. That's important -- and you can't take that for granted. There's a lot of people in this league who don't truly care about winning. And he does. And that's important, not just for his coaches but for the other players who are alongside of him, knowing he's doing what's necessary for the team to have success on a weekly basis. I really enjoy working with all of our players; the question was specifically about Saquon, so I wanted to answer it. And I've very much enjoyed working with him."

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