UNIVERSITY PARK - Saquon Barkley made a statement in his first season at Penn State, setting the program record for rushing yards by a true freshman on his way to being named a Freshman All-American.

Barkley enters the 2016 season as the clear leader in the Nittany Lions' backfield and head coach James Franklin figures to feature the Whitehall High School product prominently - on offense and special teams - this fall."I think it's the number of traits that he possesses. I think when you're evaluating prospects in high school, and you're evaluating prospects on your team, and you're evaluating prospects for the NFL, you have a list of desirable traits," Franklin said when describing what makes Barkley unique. "A lot of times you find guys that may be fast but they're not big. Or you find guys that are fast but they're not quick, or they don't possess the change of direction or whatever it may be."There's a number of traits. A certain size you're looking for. You'd like a guy that could be 220 pounds. Well, he's quick and he's fast, but he's 170 pounds. He's (Barkley) one of these guys that has a lot of the traits that you're looking for. He's got the mentality. He's got the size. He's got the quickness. He's got the speed. He's got the power. He's got the strength. He's got a lot of desirable traits. I think that's what differentiates him. The Good Lord doesn't give you everything. For whatever reason he's been given more than most."Offensively, Barkley, who is listed at 5-11, 223 pounds, produced in the rushing and receiving game in 2015, rushing for 1,076 yards and scoring seven touchdowns on the ground while also hauling in 20 passes - good for third-best on the team - for 161 yards and another score.Now, Barkley, who led the team with 1,237 all-purpose yards in 2015, wants to expand his game."Last year, I didn't play any (special teams)," Barkley noted. "If I'm not good enough to play special teams, then I'm not. But I feel like if I can help with special teams then I will (more)."Coach (Charles) Huff (special teams coordinator/running backs coach) talks about taking special teams to another level and that's what I plan to do. Whether it's blocking, running down (the field) or returning kicks, I feel like I'm a person who can help out there. So if I can, and coach Franklin feels I can too, then I'm excited to help the team out. If I'm helping the team out, then that's the mindset we all have - a team-first mentality."Another talented back - Stanford's Christian McCaffrey - made headlines last season with scintillating returns and dazzling plays on offense. McCaffrey broke Barry Sanders' NCAA record of 3,250 all-purpose yards, finishing with 3,864 on his way to a runner-up finish in the voting for the Heisman Trophy.Those highlights didn't go unnoticed in Happy Valley."I think you look at Stanford and [Christian] McCaffrey who is a tremendous player that we love watching and we're forced to stay up real late to watch him, but we like watching him," Franklin said. "That's something that Saquon is seeing. Saquon does not have any individual goals. Saquon's goal is to do whatever he possibly can to help the team win and if it's returning kicks or punts, we've got to consider doing that."All options are open. All these things have been discussed ahead of time. And like anything, there's strength and weaknesses and risk and reward and you've got to balance all those things. I think you look at the Stanford model, what they've done, they've gotten a lot of value. They've gotten a lot of value and those are things you've got to decide."After spending much time studying several elite backs around the nation, Barkley remained stuck on the shifty Stanford runner."He just easily sticks out," Barkley said of McCaffrey. "He's a really good back. He does it all, and that's the type of back that I want to be."If he does, look for Barkley to be the one players across the nation are talking about.