2022 Giants Position Review: Quarterback

Daniel Jones took a big step forward, but did he do enough to quell concerns about his long-term status as this team's quarterback?

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Jan 25, 2023 12:18 PM EST

In this story:

New York Giants

One of the major priorities of the New York Giants when they turned the page on the Joe Judge era was to find a coaching staff that could once and for all determine if quarterback Daniel Jones, the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft, was worthy of franchise status.

So in comes Brian Daboll from Buffalo, the guy who helped Josh Allen develop into an upper-echelon quarterback, and Mike Kafka, an up-and-coming offensive-minded coach who infused some concepts from that potent Kansas City offense to help jump-start a Giants offense that, with Jones as its helm, was not only antiquated but ineffective.

Things worked out to the degree that there was progress. The Giants finished 18th in total average yards per game (up from 31st), fourth in rushing (up from 24th), 26th in passing (up from 31st), tied for seventh in average first downs per game (up from 31st), 11th in time of possession (up from 27th) and seventh in the red zone (up from 32nd).

Jones was one of the rare players on Daboll's first roster who never had any true competition for his job--at least not in the form of another player, despite the presence of veteran Tyrod Taylor.

What Jones did face, according to a report from Ty Dunne of GoLong, was a daily challenge in which the circumstances were stacked against him and tilted toward setting him up for failure just enough.

But Jones, who has shown himself as unflappable as his predecessor Eli Manning, simply went to work every day and came through this reported test with flying colors.

That would serve him well for what was to come in the season when his receiving corps started to disintegrate before his very eyes. Kenny Golladay was once again not a factor. Sterling Shepard was once again injured. And Kadarius Toney was once again such a problem that the Giants sent him to Kansas City for draft picks.

That left Jones to throw to guys who many opined were "practice squad" caliber players. And surprisingly, Jones made do with what he had to work with, engineering five game-winning drives, and topped his career highs in passing yardage and completion percentage.

However, this season was more or less Quarterebacking 101 for Jones, who had to learn a new system--his third in four seasons. There were still things that Jones wasn't showing himself able to do, such as hitting more guys deeper down the field when he was afforded the time or consistently making his second and third reads.

Still, there was enough progress for the Giants to want the pending unrestricted free agent back. It would be surprising if Jones gets a deal longer than three years and the money figures to be around the $35 million APY mark, which is a little more than the franchise tag total ($32 million).

This is the safest bet for the Giants as if Jones continues to ascend and master future levels of quarterback play under this position, they could always tear up the current deal and extend him without taking a huge cap hit. If he doesn't, there will be other opportunities for the team to land their franchise quarterback of the future.

If things don't work out with Jones this off-season, the Giants have Taylor under contract for another year. They also currently have Davis Webb in the building, though Webb didn't sign a reserves/futures contract amid a report that he'd be looking to transition from being a player to a coach.

Regardless of what happens with Webb and Jones, expect the Giants to add a young developmental prospect to the quarterback room. Whether that's a draft pick or an undrafted free-agent prospect, it would behoove the Giants to add a new face to the most critical position on the roster.