Throughout the young season, New York Giants rookie running back Saquon Barkley has drawn praise from his coaches, teammates, pundits and fans. And why wouldn’t he? Since Day 1, he’s proven to be an exceptional athletic talent.

But the love has extended far beyond those who see him every day. And following a Thursday night loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, a game in which Barkley eclipsed 225 yards from scrimmage, his opponents were talking.

“He’s a difficult guy to get on the ground,” Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said via Penn Live. “We saw that on film, but up close and personal, it was something different. He’s one of the harder backs we had to tackle.

“He’s one of those guys you definitely need population to the football to get him on the ground.”

Eagles defensive end Michael Bennett, who has been around a while and appreciates the history of football, took things a step further.

“I think he reminds me of a couple running backs,” Bennett said. “I think he has shiftiness and quick feet like Marshawn Lynch, but he has balance like LeSean McCoy, but then he also has speed like Jamaal Charles, so it’s like he’s really a great combination of a running back.”

Philly linebacker Nigel Bradham tried to explain the best way to stop Barkley, but by the end of his lesson with the media, he was essentially left speechless. Barkley is just that good.

“He’s bottom-heavy, and he has great balance,” Bradham said. “So when you go against a guy like that, I think you also gotta start going high, and that’s what we started doing in the second half. We started attacking his legs, attacking his upper body. … His legs are so thick, he’s more like — it’s hard to describe what type of back he is because he’s a thick lower body, but he still has the quickness and lateral speed of a small back. So he’s just talented, man.

“Man, he’s gonna be a great player, hands down. You can’t take nothing away from the kid. He’s competitive, he has great energy, and you see what his ability to do on the field is.”

But perhaps no Eagle put it better than linebacker Jordan Hicks, who used just a single sentence to describe Barkley.

“He’s one of the most explosive players I’ve ever seen,” Hicks said via the Philadelphia Daily News.

The praise has not been limited to the Eagles, either. Players from the Jacksonville Jaguars, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers have all tipped their cap to Barkley this season, while other players around the league continue to express their awe via social media.

Currently, Barkley leads the NFL in yards from scrimmage (811) and has positioned himself to end the season with over 2,000 yards from scrimmage, which would set several NFL and franchise records.