The New York Giants selected quarterback Daniel Jones out of Duke with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft despite a lot of tape that didn’t exactly scream, “First-round prospect.” Jones has had his moments in the NFL, completing 62.8% of his passes over three seasons with 45 touchdowns and 29 interceptions, but among all quarterbacks with at least 1,000 passing attempts in that time, Jones ranks 23rd in passer rating (84.3), 23rd in Adjusted Net Yards per Pass Attempt (5.28), 23rd in touchdown percentage (3.5%), 19th in interception percentage (2.29), and 24th in QB WINZ (12).
Behind some really subpar offensive lines, and with a stream of receivers whose gifts have not been optimized, Jones has the sixth-most sacks (105) in that time, and his fourth-quarter comebacks (two) and game-winning drives (three) are among the league’s lowest. Former general manager Dave Gettleman was all in on Jones to a large degree due to his performances at his Senior Bowl, which makes you wonder if Gettleman watched anything else.
On Wednesday, during the first press conference for new GM Joe Schoen, both Schoen and team president John Mara seemed to be all in on Jones’ future with the team. The two men are narrowing their search for a new head coach to replace the mercifully fired Joe Judge, but they seemed to be in lockstep with the idea that there’s more to Jones from a potential standpoint than we’ve seen to date.
“I’ve looked at Daniel and once the new staff gets in here, we’re going to get together – offensive coordinator, head coach, the entire staff – dive into the film as a group and look at what Daniel does best and we’re going to try to allow him to put his best foot forward,” Schoen said. “I wasn’t here in the past, so I don’t exactly know what he was told to do. I know he’s a great kid, he’s been in this building the last two days, I’ve talked to him. There’s not anybody in this building that’s said a bad word about his work ethic, passion, desire to win. I think you’ve got to have those traits as a quarterback, and the kid has physical ability, he’s got arm strength, he’s athletic, he can run. I’m really excited to work with Daniel and, again, when the new staff gets in here, we’ll build an offense around Daniel to accentuate what he does best.”
Mara, who has presided over some really dodgy coaching hires — from Ben McAdoo to Pat Shurmor to Judge over the last six seasons — seemed to finally understand that the people he’s put in place to develop Jones really haven’t done the job.
“I want Joe and the new head coach to make that evaluation,” Mara said regarding Jones’ future with the team. “We do feel that Daniel can play. We’ve done everything possible to screw this kid up since he’s been here. We keep changing coaches, keep changing offensive coordinators, keep changing offensive line coaches. I take a lot of responsibility for that. But let’s bring in the right group of coaches now and give him some continuity and try to rebuild the offensive line and then be able to make an intelligent evaluation of whether he can be the franchise quarterback or not. I have a lot of hope in Daniel, and I know how badly he wants it. I know how the players feel about him. We are certainly not giving up on him by any stretch of the imagination.”
The Giants have a big decision to make regarding Jones’ fifth-year option in the new league year, and they’ll also have to balance the fact that Jones has missed time due to injury. Jones hasn’t made it easy for his team, but as Mara said, the Giants haven’t met him halfway, either.
