BACK TO THE Barkley is impressed by what

Saquon Barkley flashed a cheek-to-cheek grin, then he held his smile for a few moments while thinking of an answer. The Giants’ electrifying running back was asked about Daniel Jones, the rookie quarterback Big Blue selected sixth-overall in this year’s draft, to the dismay of many who believed he’d be available later, possibly even in the second round.

Barkley couldn’t help but rave about his team’s new quarterback, presumably the heir to Eli Manning’s throne. If everything goes according to the Giants’ grand plan, Jones and Barkley will lead the Giants into the future.

“Oh yeah, DJ,” Barkley said smiling. “He’s a player. I know you guys saw that dime.”

That dime wasn’t 10 cents on the floor. Rather it was a 50-yard bomb of a touchdown pass Jones completed to running back Paul Perkins in camp on Thursday. It was Jones’ second consecutive impressive showing after he led the GMen’s second-string offense in a two-minute drill that resulted in a touchdown pass to Alonzo Russell on Wednesday. And it was the latest installment of the rookie’s bounceback from an end zone pass that was picked off by rookie corner Corey Ballentine on Tuesday, a moment that may have been a turning point for Jones, who was “pissed off” after the give-away.

“He’s made excellent throws in every practice, and that was evidence to me that he has the arm to play in this league,” coach Pat Shurmur said on Friday. “We sort of knew that before we picked him. We’ve seen it throughout the training, and that was actually a very good throw.”

“He’s throwing the ball deep very well,” offensive coordinator Mike Shula added. “To hit a halfback like that down the field was pretty impressive for any quarterback, rookie or veteran.”

Arm strength was not considered Jones’ calling card in his four years at Duke. He was accustomed to one-step drops and quick finds in college, versus the three- or four-step snaps he’s taken in training camp with the Giants. But Jones flashed his long ball ability on his Pro Day in March, and has flashed it again early into training camp.

Jones didn’t make any eyepopping passes in practice on Friday. Instead, he made a handful of risky decisions attempting to fit the ball into tight spaces. One pass down the middle was dropped by rookie tight end C.J. Conrad. Another was caught by both a wide receiver and a defensive back at the same time. This is training camp, and teams are minimizing injury risk by limiting contact. But in a fullspeed NFL game, that pass would have resulted in either an interception or one hell of a hard hit on the receiver.

Jones didn’t show too much of his foot speed on Friday, either, but Barkley was eager to