Jones’ turnaround was a great “feel-good” story this season, but that’s where the tale should end. The Giants are making a big mistake by committing to Daniel Jones as the quarterback of the future, despite the QB having a career year this past season.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Daniel Jones isn’t going to get any better than what we saw this year.
Jones is a gritty, hard, tough runner of the ball who isn’t afraid to drive headfirst into linebackers, though has one of the weakest arms (in terms of accuracy) and is highly suspect in his decision making. Essentially, he’s a great backup for championship/contending teams as he can fill in for 1-5 games in a given season and lead the team to victory. Anything more than that is testing his capabilities at the NFL level and putting a franchises’ record in real jeopardy.
Simply put, he’s not a starting quarterback in the NFL, let alone one that is worth $30M+ per season.
There are at least 25 better starting quarterbacks in the NFL today than Daniel Jones as his limitations in the passing game are just too much for a good team to overcome. Sure, he can look capable against horrible defenses, such as we saw with his 24/35 completions for 301 yards and 2 TDs performance in the Giants Wild Card matchup versus the Vikings, but against good defenses, like the Eagles, he is a trainwreck waiting to happen.
Again, yes, the Giants offense isn’t anything to write home about, but going 15/27 for 135 yards and 1 INT in a Divisional playoff game against a heated archrival is pathetic. You wouldn’t see Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, or Joe Burrow have such a horrible game in as important of a game.
Now, I’m not saying that the Giants should get rid of Jones this year as he earned another season under center with his 3,205 passing yards, 15 passing TDs, 5 INTs, a 67.2% completion percentage, 708 rushing yards, and 7 rushing TDs stat line and the fact he was the QB that brought the Giants back to the playoffs after a 6-season hiatus.
Plus, Brian Daboll really seemed to like Jones and their partnership really grew as the season went on and the Giants got better and better.
Still, this developing HC-QB relationship and “feel-good” story shouldn’t cloud the Giants management’s vision when it comes to Jones and his ability to win meaningful games. Let’s be realistic here and see that despite the Giants making the playoffs, New York under Jones’ stewardship only finished 3rd in the NFC East with a 9-7-1 record.
It’s not terrible as Eli Manning was able to win the Super Bowl with the Giants on a Wild Card team, but Jones’ performance in the playoffs shows he certainly isn’t the next Eli Manning.
So, all I’m saying is that the Giants better be careful in determining how long and for how much money they extend Daniel Jones.
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