Saquon Barkley-mania was on full display last week at the National Football League draft and throughout our area when months of speculation ended about where the Penn State superstar would play.

As I predicted in a column more than a month before the draft, the New York Giants picked the Coplay, Lehigh County, resident as their first choice, number two overall.

The much-anticipated event was accompanied by ESPN viewing parties in his home community and elsewhere, and Barkley was accompanied to the draft proceedings and festivities in Arlington, Texas, by family, friends and coaches, including Penn State head coach James Franklin, an East Stroudsburg University graduate.

The 21-year-old Whitehall High School grad rushed for 3,646 yards during the three years he played for the Zephyrs, including 1,856 rushing yards and 31 touchdowns as a senior.

But it was at Penn State where he came into national prominence. He racked up 3,843 yards with 43 rushing touchdowns. He also had 1,195 receiving yards with eight touchdown receptions, and he got a lot of extra attention by throwing one touchdown pass. He amassed 5,557 all-purpose yards in his three years with the Nittany Lions.

Some die-hard Penn State fans were miffed that Barkley declared for the draft rather than play his senior year at State College. Why would Barkley risk perhaps a career-ending injury by returning for another year when he is leaving his college career at the top of his game and becoming an instant multimillionaire?

According to NFL contract specialist Joel Corry, Barkley is expected to make $31.2 million in a four-year deal that includes a nearly $21 million signing bonus.

Barkley’s 2018’s salary is limited to $5.7 million, according to Sam Gold of NFL Breakdowns. Just to give you an idea of how highly the Giants prize Barkley, with incentives and perks his rookie-year contract (without the signing bonus factored in) averages $7.8 million, ranking him fourth among the NFL elite running backs. Only the Pittsburgh Steelers’ LeVeon Bell ($14.5 million), the Atlanta Falcons’ Devonta Freeman ($8.25 million) and the Buffalo Bills’ LeSean McCoy ($8 million) will be making more than Barkley in 2018, and he has not even played a down.

April will go down as a milestone month in the Barkley family. Not only was he the number 2 pick, but he and his girlfriend, Anna Congdon of Scranton, a Penn State nursing student, welcomed a baby daughter, Jada, two days before the draft.

“I’ve got to do everything to represent her and set a good example,” the new father said of their first child. Barkley told a phalanx of sports reporters after the draft that he and his parents left the Bronx to find a new way of life in the Lehigh Valley. “I’m living my dream,” he smiled. “I was drafted by a great organization, and this allows me to take another step to where I want to get to.”

The Giants’ leadership wants Barkley to help turn around a dismal 3-13 season last year. Top ownership and management shared with team members a note they wrote before the draft: “Saquon Barkley — no matter what.”

By picking him number two, the Giants sent a message that they plan to make Barkley an immediate focus of their offense, which finished an equally dismal 21st in the NFL last year. General Manager Dave Gettleman told reporters, “This kid makes our quarterback better, our line better, our receivers better, our defense better. He is going to be great for our culture.”

The 67-year-old Gettleman is teaming up with first-year Giants’ head coach Pat Shurmur to make the Monsters of the Meadowlands Super Bowl champs again, just as they were in 2012.

This is the first time that the Giants have ever selected a Penn State player in the NFL’s first round draft. Gettleman put Barkley’s potential on a par with former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning. “I haven’t seen a guy like this (Barkley) in a long time, and I’ve been doing this for 32 years,” Gettleman said.

Although the Cleveland Browns, with the worst record in the NFL last year, took Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield as the number one draft pick last week, most observers say Barkley made out better, because he will be playing in the biggest and toughest media market in the country.

Playing at the NFL level is a snake pit of dangers, which we hope Barkley avoids. Aside from failing to reach expectations, these players are subject to serious injury and other perils. After all, running backs have, on average, the shortest career of any of the key backfield position players, just about three years, according to Statista.com. The NFL says the average career length is six years for a player who makes the club’s roster in his rookie year. First-round draft picks, such as Barkley, however, have an average career of 9.3 years.

Six other area players have been selected in the first round in prior NFL drafts, including Lansford’s Mike Holovak, who was chosen number 5 by Cleveland, known as the Rams in 1943. Holovak was an All-American fullback with Boston College in 1942. He was head football coach at his alma mater from 1951 to 1959. He died in 2008 at the age of 88.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com