Ramses Barden is a wide receiver for the New York Giants, who selected him with the 85th overall pick in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Barden played college football at California Polytechnic State University, where he was a two-time Great West Football Conference Offensive Player of the Year selection. Barden is 6-feet, 6-inches tall and weighs 227 pounds.

Barden caught 41 passes for 915 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior at Flintridge Prep in La Canada Flintridge, CA. He considered Penn and San Diego before signing with Cal Poly.

After redshirting in 2004, Barden led the Mustangs in receptions in each of the next four seasons. He finished his Cal Poly career with 206 receptions for 4,183 yards and 50 touchdowns, all of which were school records. He also holds the Cal Poly single-season records for receiving yards (1,467 in 2007) and receiving touchdowns (18 in 2007 and 2008). At one point, he caught touchdown passes in 20 consecutive games, setting the NCAA Division I record. The FCS record had been held by Jerry Rice, while the FBS record was held by Larry Fitzgerald. Barden was named an FCS All-America selection following the 2007 and 2008 seasons. In 2007, he shared Great West Football Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors with Steve Walker of North Dakota State. He won the award outright in 2008. He finished fourth in the balloting for the Walter Payton Award, given annually to the nation's best FCS player. He was the first Cal Poly player ever chosen to play in the Senior Bowl.

Barden was selected in the third round (85th overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. Before the 2009 season, Barden signed a four-year/$2.481M contract with New York.

Barden's father, Al Barden, was a basketball player at New York University and was on the 1960 team that reached the Final Four.