In 2015, when this season’s No. 2 overall NFL draft pick Saquon Barkley was a freshman running back at Penn State, the team’s offensive linemen knew before anyone else what he could be.
How?
“When I look at a back, I usually check out his legs and his calves first,” said starting center Angelo Mangiro at the time. “And then his (butt). And the kid, his attributes right there are phenomenal. Then you see spurts of, ‘Wow, this kid can be incredible.’ ”
The memory of it made current Carolina Panthers guard Brendan Mahon, who blocked for Barkley during a prolific collegiate career that included a Heisman campaign, laugh.