Saquon Barkley took the handoff across the field where John Mara was watching intently and in the blink of an eye turned the corner and began sprinting down the left sideline, toward MetLife Stadium in the distance, empty on this sun-splashed day but staring unblinkingly at this rookie Giant who just might be setting this house on fire again in several months.

No. 26 wore blue gloves and a long sleeve white T-shirt, his calves exploding beneath his shorts. He reached up and snatched passes effortlessly, a tiny hint of the weapon he can be, this 230-pound maneuverable tank you can call the Barkley-26.

A couple of hundred yards away, perhaps a stoic MetLife Stadium could imagine the possibilities:

Eli Manning drops back, looks for Odell Beckham Jr., wheels left and throws a swing pass to Barkley. Barkley makes the first defender miss, jukes the linebacker and there he goes!

Sa-Gone!

Such are the expectations that await Saquon Barkley:

Allow Eli Manning one last Super Bowl run.

Make life easier on Beckham.

Help keep the defense off the field and therefore fresh.

Make such an impact that Giants fans won’t be cursing Dave Gettleman for passing on Sam Darnold and gifting him to the Jets.

Be the face of the franchise.

Be fitted for that gold jacket.

“I know a lot of people try to set expectations for me, no offense to you guys, but I don’t care what anyone — ‘Oh, I got to rush for this, I got to score this’ — it don’t matter to me because I set my own expectations and have my own standard,” Barkley said Friday at Giants rookie minicamp. “If I follow the media and everyone that tries to set expectations for me because I’m a high draft pick, if I follow that, I will never become a great player. It starts with myself, I have to believe in myself, and set expectations for myself, set goals for myself and continue to work for those goals every day.”

Know this: His expectations for himself are through the roof. Because here was his answer when asked if he considers himself a running back or more than a running back:

“More than a running back. Completely more than a running back,” Barkley said. “That’s why people who try to [say], ‘Why should a running back go that high?’ obviously look at the history of the running back position with the Zekes [Elliott] and the Le’Veons [Bell] are able to do, when you look at those guys, they’re more than a running back. I’m not a guy you just line up in the backfield that’s going to bang his head, bang his head, bang his head. I’m a guy that’s willing to do anything for the team, whether it be a kick returner, whether it be a punt returner, whether it be running down on kickoffs, whether it’s line up in the slot, run a dummy play, a fake play, whatever it takes. I want to be an athlete, I’m not just a running back.”

He spoke rapidly, wearing a white shirt with a blue NY across the chest.

“My expectations for myself right now would be just continue to come in, be humble … I don’t want to be that guy, that dude as he thinks he’s a high draft pick and he got it all,” Barkley said. “Nothing’s given to you, everything’s earned. I have that mindset that you got to work for every single thing, learn every single day, be a student of the game, learn from the coaches, learn from the Elis and the Odells on the field and off the field [learn from Eli off the field, OK?]. Be a worker. That’s how I got where I’m at so continue to work my butt off. Be a veteran pro at a young age.”

Beckham didn’t have these expectations as the 12th pick of the 2014 NFL Draft.

Patrick Ewing sure did when the Knicks won the lottery in 1985, even if general manager Dave DeBusschere didn’t opine that the Hoya Destroya was touched by the hand of God.

Darryl Strawberry was hailed in 1983 as The Black Ted Williams, and Dwight Gooden was a 19-year-old phenom who quickly became known as Dr. K.

Derek Jeter was the phenom shortstop on Joe Torre’s 1996 Yankees World Series champions.

No one expected immediate gratification from Day 1 from Manning because he sat behind caretaker Kurt Warner for the first nine games of the 2004 season.

There were high expectations in 1981 for Lawrence Taylor, like Barkley the second-overall pick, but they were somewhat tempered because he was a linebacker, at least until he put on his 56 jersey and immediately began raising hell.

Aaron Judge’s Paul Bunyan reputation preceded him when he made his Yankees debut in August 2016.

No one was quite sure what to make of Kristaps Porzingis when Phil Jackson took him with the fourth pick of the 2015 NBA Draft.

Matt Harvey struck out 11 in his 2012 debut and was on his way to being the Dark Knight.

With his humility, selflessness and class, Barkley reminds you more of Jeter and Judge and Manning than the others.

Barkley’s Penn State teammate, a 5-foot-9 cornerback named Grant Haley, drove with him from the hotel to the Quest Diagnostics Training Center on Friday morning. They arrived at 6:30 a.m. and had breakfast together alone in the cafeteria.

“He was the first one here today, I’m sure he’ll be the last one to leave, and I think it’s gonna be like that for many years to come,” Haley said.