Jacobs a Barkley believer
It’s no surprise one of the Giants’ last franchise running backs loves the Saquon Barkley pick. Brandon Jacobs sees Barkley as a player the Giants can build a Super Bowl contender around, after general manager Dave Gettleman passed on hyped quarterback prospects to take the Penn State standout at No. 2 in last week’s draft. And Jacobs, a Giants fourth-round pick in 2005 who has two rings from his nineyear career, knows a thing or two about winning Super Bowls.
“I think mentally and emotionally he’s gonna be worth every bit of that No. 2-overall draft choice. I think everyone else is just looking at what he can do as far as producing, but I’m looking at the total guy. I’m looking at him going in there and being a leader at a young age and taking the team over,” Jacobs told The Post in a phone interview Monday.
“If I eve r get the chance to speak with him, that’s definitely gonna be something that I’m gonna tell him he has to do: Get in there, be a vocal leader of the team as a rookie. Whoho cares that you’re the youngest guy in there? It doesn’t matter. Take the team over, put the team on your back and go from there.”
Jacobs ,35 and five years removed from the NFL, defended Gettleman’s decision to go with the player he considered the best available rather than be to none of the top quarterbacks remaining, including Sam Darnold, who went to the Jets one pick later. Jacobs, who knew only one quarterback during his time with the Giants, feels strongly Eli Manning can revive some of the magic that earned him Super Bowl MVP
honors on the t 2008 and 2012 title teams. More than anything, Jacobs believes in Gettleman. The two built a strong relationship when Gettleman was with the Giants as a personnel director before leaving for the Panthers’ GM job in 2013. “My main memory about Dave is how high he wore his pants,” Jacobs said, “but he was one hell of a guy.” Jacobs hopes to clue Barkley into the Giants’ way if they get a chance to meet at the second annual celebrity softball game on June 9 in Pomona, N.Y., where past and current Giants team up and face off to benefit the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation. “There area lot of people that are gonna be pulling you in certain directions. Nightclubs gonna try to get money out of you, everybody,” Jacobs said, when asked what advice he’d give to the 21-year-old about playing in the New York spotlight. “Always stay clear of negativity and trouble. Always make sure that you're with the right people when you do go out, and always make sure that you’re a leader on and off the football field.”