These Zoom meetings that NFL teams are going through can be stressful. It's an entirely different way of learning.

But for someone as competitive as Giants RB Saquon Barkley, it's an opportunity to challenge himself. And that isn't by just learning the new playbook under offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.

Barkley took initiative last season to become a leader in the locker room despite it only being his second year in the league. He proved his worth as the Offensive Rookie of the Year who quickly became the focal point of the Giants' offense.

So now in Year 3, that leadership role is even more amplified.

"I tried to take it on last year, trying to be better in that area," Barkley said about leading during a Zoom call with media on Wednesday. "I not only see myself as a key player, but try to get everyone on the right page."

Barkley isn't the only Giant expected to be a leader at such a young age. Daniel Jones must enhance that quality this season, as Eli Manning is no longer in the locker room, and the offense is now his to run.

Jones certainly recognizes that fact, and toward the end of last season, he tried to build that leadership quality. He may need more time to develop his other facets of his game -- he pointed to ball-security being one, of course -- but being a leader for his offense and the team is what the Giants drafted him to ultimately become.

It started the second Pat Shurmur handed him the ball in Week 3 last season. But it's even more important now with Manning out of the building.

"I definitely feel that responsibility," Jones said. "We have a lot of guys on our team who are leaders, who can step up and organize guys and get things going in the right direction. But I feel that responsibility. That's something I need to take seriously, and I certainly do.

But how can these two youngsters do that when they aren't around the new rookies or free agents that have joined the Giants? Offseason training programs aren't just for getting in shape for training camp, but more importantly, they're for building bonds with new teammates or making stronger ones with teammates from last season.

Jones, though, isn't trying to focus on the negative aspects of these meetings. Instead, his mindset is one he's trying to pass on to his peers.

"Everyone's dealing with these circumstances and having to adjust and I'm no different from that," he said. "No one is going to be given breaks because everyone is working remote and having to do it. I don't think it will be a disadvantage if we approach it like we have."

Barkley added: "No one can see the forecast. Only thing we can do as a team is take advantage of what we can do."

So that's where these two leaders stand, and it goes along with what new head coach Joe Judge has been preaching about the advantage going to the most prepared team. That's exactly what Jones and Barkley are trying to do, and it appears the rest of the team believes that as well.

At the end of the day, though, these two first-round picks by the Giants are the ones that set the tone for the team, and much of the team's success will flow through them. Their time in the league has just begun, but they are both viewed as the faces of the franchise.

But Jones will speak for Barkley when he says this team is exactly that -- a team. One man, or even two, doesn't make or break it.

"It's our team, it's not one guy's team," Jones said. "It's not coach's team, it's not my team, it's not Saquon's team."

That right there sounds like a leader.

Video: Ralph Vacchiano predicts the 2020 NFC East standings

Popular in the Community