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 nine-year 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 ever 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. Who 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 bet on one 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 2008 and 2012 title teams.

If not Manning, whose days are numbered at age 37, Jacobs wants to see if Davis Webb, a third-round pick last year, can step up to the challenge.

“We don’t need a quarterback. First of all, we have Eli, and how is it fair to Webb to bring a quarterback in without ever having given him a shot? Without ever having given him an opportunity to grow as a quarterback?” Jacobs said. “He’s been playing behind Eli. It’s his second year coming up. I think he’s gonna do pretty well.”

Gettleman didn’t fully neglect this year’s quarterback class, selecting Kyle Lauletta out of Richmond in the fourth round. He also used the Giants’ second-round pick on guard Will Hernandez, whom Jacobs called “different than most young linemen” in that he should be able to adapt to the physicality of the NFL quickly.

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.

“He was one of my favorite guys I’ve ever met probably throughout my stay with the Giants. … I’m happy Carolina done away with him, and now I’m glad that we actually have an opportunity to have a great general manager and a hard-nosed guy. Gettleman knows what it takes to be a New York Giant.”

Jacobs hopes to clue Barkley into the Giants’ way if they get a chance to meet at the second annual Landon Collins Celebrity Softball Game on June 9 in Pomona, where past and current Giants team up and face off to benefit the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation.

“There are a 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.”