Which 2019 rookie quarterback has the best shot at the Super Bowl?
By Joel Deering
Daniel Jones – New York Giants
It was recently reported that Eli Manning will be the Week 1 starter for the New York Giants. While that may be the case, I don’t see it taking too long before Jones takes over the starting job. Despite the Giants still being believers in Manning, they’ll quickly turn to their rookie quarterback when their season isn’t going as planned early on.
Manning can still be a decent quarterback, but his best weapon in Odell Beckham Jr. is gone. Saquon Barkley will have another fantastic season, but with him being the only real weapon on this team, I’m not sure if his stats will transfer to wins.
If we get to the halfway point in the season and the Giants have a losing record, I believe Jones will take over at that point. It could be earlier, depending on how poorly their season starts. Regardless of when Jones starts, he will start at some point. When he does start, you know the Giants have given up hope for the season and will just be trying to give their rookie quarterback some experience.
It’ll be very nice for Jones to have Barkley in the backfield, but again, the Giants don’t really have any big offensive threats outside of him. Based on his college stats, I believe Jones will struggle tremendously during his rookie season.
I can honestly see him having a season similar to that of Josh Allen or Josh Rosen a season. Allen completed just 52.8% of his passes, while throwing more interceptions than touchdowns. Rosen did the same thing, but completed a slightly higher percentage of his passes (55.8%).
If Jones is going to take over as the starter this season, he’s not going to be walking into a great situation. If Jones does develop into the guy the Giants hope for him to be, he won’t be that guy during his rookie season. He will struggle, being average at best.
On top of that, things look even worse when you consider the Giants’ defense. After ranking 31st in sacks last season, they traded away Olivier Vernon, who was their leading sack artist. This defense also ranked 23rd in points allowed last season, allowing an average of 25.8 points per game. Landon Collins, who you could have considered their best defensive player, is no longer part of this team.
With a defense that didn’t get better and an offense lacking weapons, Jones will struggle when it’s his time to start. By then, it will already be too late for the Giants. I don’t see them making the playoffs, which translates to no Super Bowl for Jones as a rookie.