Through three partial seasons as the starting quarterback of the New York Giants, Daniel Jones has failed to convince the general public he’s capable of being an above-average NFL QB.
In that time he’s experienced several hardships, whether it be injuries either to himself or to a depleted pass-catching corps, in addition to dealing with an atrocious offensive line. Not to mention, Saquon Barkley’s unavailability for a large part of the past two seasons.
This is all in addition to a questionable coaching staff and learning environment in general, to which Giants co-owner John Mara noted the team has done everything to set up the sixth pick from the 2019 NFL Draft to fail. But that might be set to change.
New York Giants finally setting Daniel Jones up for success
Maybe, things will change now that he’s under new guidance from the top down. With a reinforced offensive line, a healthy set of skill position players and a new offensive-minded coaching staff that’s had success developing Josh Allen from an inaccurate project into a perennial MVP candidate, there’s plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
Allen went from completing just 52.2% of his passes as a rookie to 58.8%, and then 69.2% the next year. It’s an incredible leap in development.
While Jones and Allen don’t have the same exact skill set, there are similarities.
Both players are uber-athletic, with an ability to quickly escape the pocket, making throws on the run. Yet a big issue for Jones thus far has been a lack of durability, missing eight games in his past two seasons. Jones has shown an ability to be accurate, but he’s also never had a weapon who can take the game over as many top quarterbacks do.
His best season yet came as a rookie when SaQuads was still available for 13 games. If the Giants can manage to keep their star tailback healthy, along with 2020 first-round pick Kadarius Toney, in addition to figuring out how to actually utilize Kenny Golladay, we might see more Danny Dimes than ever in 2022.
Davis Webb says Daniel Jones is a workaholic
Can coach Brian Daboll help do the same with Danny Dimes as he did with Allen? That’s certainly the hope in the Big Apple, and for his part, Jones is putting the work in as one of his newest teammates recently shared.
NFL quarterback Davis Webb, a new teammate of Jones’s since he was signed in free agency, recently spoke to Big Blue reporters after an OTAs session in which he heaped high praise on the team’s QB1.
“He’s the hardest-working quarterback I’ve been around,’’ Webb said Thursday after organized team activity practice No. 9. “He’s probably the smartest quarterback I’ve been around.’’
Davis Webb on Daniel Jones
On the surface, these quotes may not seem like much. With a little better memory, one might realize Webb was originally drafted by the Giants in 2017 when a 36-year-old Eli Manning was still on the roster.
It’s also worth noting, Webb has also been a member of the Bills with Josh Allen as the QB1 in 2021. In college, Webb was teammates with another well-established QB, Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech.
So it’s not like Webb hasn’t seen first-hand a few elite quarterbacks already, making his comments about Jones all the more noteworthy. Still, this is just common training camp speak. How much can be taken from it remains to be seen, but by all appearances, the Giants are pleased with their decision to stick with Daniel Jones for another year. We’ll see if it pays off.
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