Former New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur spent just one season with quarterback Daniel Jones, but it was more than enough to form an opinion.
Shurmur had faith in Jones the moment the Giants selected him sixth overall in the 2019 NFL draft, and that faith remains to this day.
“His first year, I think it’s fair to say that he did enough things that he had the ability to have a bright future,” Shurmur told NJ Advance Media. “Probably the only thing you could have been critical of when he was a rookie was his ability to take care of the ball. But as far as throwing the ball and running it and doing what you have to do as a quarterback, you had to walk away from that first year saying this guy really has a chance to be good.”
Jones did struggle with turnovers early on, but he’s essentially eliminated that issue here in his fourth season. He also has the Giants on the brink of the playoffs for the first time since 2016, and Shurmur is thrilled for his former quarterback.
“I’ve been really impressed by him,” Shurmur said. “He’s played some really fine games and done a great job of taking care of the football. He has been executing their offense and (the Giants’ coaches) are doing a good job of utilizing his ability on structured running plays. That’s when you have to be really, really conscious of taking care of the football and he has done that.”
Statistically, Jones hasn’t been able to recreate the same production he had under Shurmur. As a rookie, he threw for over 3,000 yards and 24 touchdowns in just 13 games (12 starts). But, as the former coach noted, the turnovers are way down and that has lead to many more wins.
The progression and development comes as no surprise to Shurmur.
“I’m not surprised at all by what he’s doing,” Shurmur said. “I’ve seen the way he works and I always thought he was a good leader and a very talented guy. I’m just happy about his success. It takes a while for quarterbacks to develop, and he has done that. I’m rooting for him. When I was part of that organization, we did a quarterback evaluation that year and we felt he was our guy. I think it was a smart decision.”
Former general manager Dave Gettleman always believed Jones was the guy. Now we know that Shurmur and Joe Judge did as well. Co-owner John Mara has echoed those sentiments, and it seems current GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll agree. But will that position change come the offseason?
The Giants declined Jones’ fifth-year option and he is slated to become an unrestricted free agent in March.
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