Just how he drew it up.

No, Saquon Barkley wasn’t the No. 1 overall pick. He dodged that bullet. Going to Cleveland and being asked to be the savior of a team without a quarterback and any offensive identity wouldn’t have been the scenario to draw up for Barkley.

Yes, Barkley was the No. 2 overall pick. He fell into that spot. Going to the New York Giants and being put in an offense with a proven quarterback and an All-Pro receiver in Odell Beckham Jr. was the perfect scenario for Barkley. Staying close to home isn’t a bad deal, either.

Barkley didn’t have to wait for a mess of quarterbacks to get picked. Only one, the Heisman Trophy winner, went ahead of him. Instead of a bunch of teams rolling the dice on quarterbacks who weren’t sure-fire prospects, one team took the best prospect in the draft.

Not the Browns. The Giants. They’re the ones who did the simple thing. That is, draft the guy who was the B1G’s best draft prospect of the 21st century.

Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Wait…other B1G players have gone No. 1 overall in the 21st century. Jake Long did it a decade ago (Barkley become the first B1G player selected in the top 2 since then), and former Penn State great Courtney Brown kicked off the decade as the first overall pick.

But yes, Barkley was the best among those guys and even among any of the rest as a prospect. Why? Well, consider what era he’s playing in. Quarterbacks are being taken earlier than ever because of the rookie wage scale, which began in 2013. Getting a potential franchise quarterback under a cheaper contract for potentially 4-5 years changed the market. That’s why a record four quarterbacks went in the top 10.

Still, Barkley was too obvious of a talent to slip past No. 2.

While the Mel Kipers of the world might have stuck to age-old beliefs about “never taking a running back high in the draft,” the Giants didn’t buy into that. Nor should they have. As I’ve said and written many times, Barkley is a better prospect than Ezekiel Elliott, Todd Gurley, Trent Richardson or any running back prospect in the last decade.

You don’t pass on an Adrian Peterson-level prospect because “you can get quality running backs elsewhere.” That’s what I believe Barkley is after watching him the last three years. Peterson-level. To be clear, that doesn’t mean Barkley is the same player as Peterson. Peterson craved contact way more than Barkley did. Barkley also did more with less of an offensive line.

That’s exactly why I wouldn’t worry that the Giants have had some offensive line issues recently. Barkley is used to that. That’s why his floor is so high. He catches passes like a receiver, and he’s as dynamic of a player in space as I’ve seen in recent memory.

Are the Giants excited to have Barkley? Let’s ask Beckham:

I’d agree with that.

Barkley has the ability to make that kind of impact in New York and on the entire NFL. That’s his goal. The combination of size, speed, balance and a good head on his shoulders will take Barkley far. He could easily take the NFL by storm.

After all, when was the last time we saw a 233-pound running back who could do the things he could? Even if you ignore his incredible combine performance — which was anticipated more than a year ahead of time — that’s still true.

Barkley isn’t guaranteed to have success on the next level. Lord knows injuries can disrupt that. If the Giants wind up having the worst offensive line in football, Barkley’s upside is obviously limited.

But there was something that I kept coming back to the last week. When these front offices are picking in the top 5, it pretty much makes or breaks whether they keep their jobs. Miss on a quarterback in the top 5 and you’re likely out of a job.

If I’m betting my job and my family’s well-being on a player, I’m betting the farm on Barkley. He checks all of the boxes that you could want in a person and in a player. He was as no-brainer of a top-5 pick that a front office could ask for.

Barkley is already saying the things you want to hear if you’re the Giants’ front office.

” They went 3-13, had a lot of injuries, but that’s not a 3-13 football team,” Barkley said via PennLive.com. “You’ve got a proven quarterback and you’ve got a great wide receiver corps led by OBJ (Odell Beckham Jr.) … It’s like, pick your poison.”

Poison would’ve been passing on Barkley. Fortunately, the Giants didn’t take the bait.