Urban Meyer Says Saquon Barkley, Ezekiel Elliott Comparisons Are 'Very Fair'

Penn State running back Saquon Barkley has already received lofty comparisons in his young career, but even a rival coach can't disagree.

After Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com compared Barkley to former Ohio State and current Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, Urban Meyer agreed.

"It's probably pretty fair," Elliott's former coach said of the comparison, per Chase Goodbread of NFL.com. "I think he's that quality of a back, that quality of a worker from everything I hear and read. I think that's very fair."

Before leading the NFL in rushing yards as a rookie, Elliott put together an outstanding college career where he rushed for over 1,800 yards in each of his last two seasons with the Buckeyes. He helped lead the team to a national championship and was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in 2015. 

Although these are tough goals for Barkley to match, he has already shown elite ability in his two years at Penn State. After topping 1,000 yards as a freshman, he followed it up with 1,496 rushing yards and 402 receiving yards last season, plus 22 total touchdowns.

Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated discussed the running back's pure strength:

Meanwhile, Bleacher Report's Matt Miller said he could be the "best running back prospect in a decade" on his Stick to Football podcast.

Before he can enter the draft or match Elliott's success in the NFL, Barkley will first try to put up big numbers for the Nittany Lions in 2017. Per Odds Shark, he currently has 9-1 odds to win the Heisman Trophy this season, which is tied for the fourth-best odds in the country.