New York Giants: Daniel Jones has not been as great as you think
New York Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones has taken a step back since his strong start.
The New York Giants received a ton of ridicule for their selection of Daniel Jones in the 2019 NFL Draft. Jones was considered by most to be a borderline first-round prospect, but the Giants took him with the sixth overall pick. It was a baffling selection at the time and appeared to be a kind of move that could hold them back for years.
That being said, Jones came out and proved his doubters wrong early in his rookie season. After a strong preseason, Jones took over for Eli Manning early in the year, making his first career start in Week 3 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Jones dominated the Bucs in that first start, completing 64 percent of his passes for 336 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also carried the ball four times for 28 yards and two touchdowns. Jones led the New York Giants to a victory in that game and looked extremely impressive in doing so.
However, how much of that was Jones and how much of that was the Bucs’ awful defense? Also, it was easy to get excited about Jones after watching the washed-up Manning start so many games for the Giants.
Jones has continued to lock down the Giants’ starting quarterback job since that game. Since that win over the Bucs, the Giants are 1-7, with their only victory coming in Week 4 against the lowly Washington Redskins. While Jones has not been terrible through this stretch, he is not the same kind of playmaker that we saw early in the season.
Through the last eight games, Jones has completed 62 percent of his passes for 1,781 yards, 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Not terrible, but his 223 passing yards per game leaves plenty to be desired. Also, Jones has had a ton of trouble holding onto the ball this season. He has fumbled the ball 14 times this year, more than any other player in the NFL.
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Jones is still an extremely young player who needs proper development before we know how to evaluate him. That being said, through the first 10 games of his career, I am sticking with my initial thought of Jones not being a great selection by the New York Giants. He still has a lot of work to do before he becomes a true franchise quarterback for this team.