New Jersey football fans might get a second chance to have Saquon Barkley on their team.

The Penn State star running back announced on New Year's Eve that he is skipping his senior season to enter the 2018 NFL Draft, where he likely will be picked near the top of the first round.

The Giants have the No. 2 pick. The Jets have the No. 6 pick. Both are in need of a game-breaking running back among other things.

Barkley is rated as the No. 1 prospect on ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr.'s Big Board. Fellow ESPN draft guru Todd McShay lists Barkley at No. 2. Quarterbacks typically go at the top of the draft -- and there could be three taken before any players at any positions in 2018.

Inside story of how Rutgers discovered Saquon Barkley, then lost him

Barkley rushed for 1,271 yards and 18 touchdowns as a junior, winning his second Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year along the way.

"I am aware I am coming up short on getting my degree," Barkley said in a statement, "but I have made a promise to my mom, dad and Coach (James) Franklin that I will continue to pursue my dream of obtaining a Penn State degree."

While other top college stars sat out bowl games for fear of stock-ruining injury -- a trend gaining popularity in recent years -- Barkley won more fans with 137 rushing yards, two touchdowns and some of his patented jump cuts and dynamic moves in a Fiesta Bowl win against Washington.

Barkley finished just 90 yards shy of Penn State's all-time rushing record.

But his journey to the NFL is a strange one. He committed to Rutgers -- the team he grew up rooting for as a child in New York -- as a relatively unknown prospect entering his junior year at Whitehall High School in Pennsylvania.

But Barkley decommitted and then rushed for 322 yards and five touchdowns in three career against Rutgers.

Ryan Dunleavy may be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.