When will Saquon Barkley return from injury? We analyze the impact of the New York Giants star's absence

Saquon Barkley had a 1400 yard season from scrimmage in 2019. The year before, he had one of the biggest rookie seasons a running back's ever had. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to do so in 2020. Barkley suffered a torn ACL in week two, and the New York Giants offense lost its most dynamic weapon.

Full details on #Giants RB Saquon Barkley’s knee: He tore his ACL, partial tore his meniscus and has a strained MCL (which won’t have to be fixed in surgery). That means in 2-4 weeks he’ll have surgery to allow swelling and inflammation to go down.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 21, 2020

Thanks to modern medicine, ACL injuries can be healed in approximately nine months. But in Barkley's case, 11 months have passed and he's not back to 100 percent. Barkley is suffering partial damage to his MCL and meniscus which is adding to his recovery. Barkley hasn't practiced much this offseason and has worked his way back slowly. Fans are wondering about his week one status and rightfully so.

Saquon Barkley - The star running back's timetable

At the time of this writing, the Giants' week one game is two weeks away. They're slated to face the Denver Broncos, who have a loaded defense. Luckily for the Giants, Barkley practiced more this week than he has the whole offseason.

Saquon Barkley after his most active practice of training camp pic.twitter.com/uUh10YVqYN

— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) August 26, 2021

Barkley was sporting a no-tackle jersey in practice. He's not allowed to be touched, which is concerning given week one is two weeks away. August. 9 is when Barkley practiced for the first time. Meaning he's had three weeks under his belt doing light work.

His status is up in the air for week one, but there's optimism he won't be out much longer if he's not ready. Earlier this month, week three was mentioned as a possible return date. How Barkley has recovered since is something only he and the Giants know. At least it shouldn't be something that keeps him out too late into the season.

From @GMFB: The #Giants will likely see RB Saquon Barkley by Week 3 and although no one will rush him, no one has completely ruled out Week 1, either. pic.twitter.com/Pxlr8u9BpI

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 6, 2021

Impact of the Giants not having Barkley week one

Without Barkley a year ago, the Giants finished 19th in rushing yards. They addressed the position in free agency by signing Devontae Booker and Corey Clement. Booker has averaged 4.3 yards per carry this preseason and has a career average of 4.8 yards per attempt.

All reports from the Giants camp have been positive about Booker thus far. He won't have the ceiling Barkley does but has a solid enough floor. The Giants' main mission is to see whether Daniel Jones is the answer at quarterback going forward.

Having Barkley in the backfield would help Jones tremendously. But Booker could fill in for a couple of weeks if Barkley isn't ready. This will be a pivotal story to track throughout the rest of their training camp. The NFC East has a returning Dak Prescott and an elite Washington Football Team defense. 24-year-old Barkley is a Jenga piece for the Giants to try and stake their claim as a threat.