How Giants QB Daniel Jones Can Win Over Critics

Wide receiver Darius Slayton was point-blank about what his teammate could do to silence the growing number of critics.

Daniel Jones, quarterback. The NY Giants NFL team held an organized team activity at their training facility in East Rutherford, NJ on Thursday May 30, 2024. | Tariq Zehawi/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY

Perhaps no figure currently in New York sports has divided his team's fan base more than New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones.

On the one hand, you have those who agree with tea co-owner John Mara, who famously admitted a few years ago that the team had done everything possible to screw Jones up by not surrounding him with a strong supporting cast.

Then you have those who see Jones as the reason for all that's wrong with the world—a pathetic figure who can't get out of his own way no matter what talent surrounds him or what kind of system he's asked to run.

While the debate will likely rage on, after failing to land a quarterback in this year's draft, the Giants are standing by Jones, who is recovering from ACL surgery.

But receiver Darius Slayton, who came into the league in the same draft class as Jones--Slayton was a fifth-round pick and Jones a first-rounder in 2019--has a solution to ease the disdain some within the fan base have for Jones.

"Win," Slayton said. "I think we all need to win. If you want to be seen as a good player in this league, if you lose, the consensus is they must all be bad players. If you win -- two years ago when we were in the playoffs–there wasn't this negative press."

It sounds simple enough, but Jones can't do it alone. Last year, he played behind arguably one of the worst offensive lines he's seen since entering the NFL. It was a line whose lack of depth was exposed thanks to injury.

He also played games in which he didn't have running back Saquon Barkley or tight end Darren Waller, two players who were supposed to add some spark to the offense.

Not that Jones was blameless in the offense's struggles. He led the Giants’ three quarterbacks in turnover-worthy plays (4.1 percent), a percentage that was fifth among all quarterbacks with a minimum of 200 dropbacks last season.

His indecisiveness post-snap was also a problem. Of the pressures he endured, 31.6 percent resulted in sacks, the second-most (behind teammate Tommy DeVito) in that sample group.

That said, Slayton knows that Jones, like everyone else on the offense, needs to be better than they were last season.

"The narrative comes and goes depending on how your team does," Slayton said. "It's on me and him and all the rest of the guys we have to get this team going in the right direction."