New York Giants 2024 Position Unit Review: Quarterbacks

We begin our New York Giants position unit reviews by looking at all the players who suited up for the team at a position group, their impact, and where the position group stands as we head into the offseason. Up first is the quarterback group.
The first mistake the New York Giants made when it came to the quarterback position was that they ran it back with what they had in 2023.
Of course, Jones and Tommy DeVito, who were joined by Drew Lock after the team, despite its hope of retaining Tyrod Taylor, couldn’t do so.
But here’s where the quarterback situation got messy. Despite insisting that Jones was going to be the starter once he recovered from his ACL surgery, we learned via Hard Knocks that the Giants were itching to replace Jones with one of Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye, two guys that they would have needed to trade up to get.
If they had been able to get one of Daniels or Maye, the plan was to have Jones start the season and then transition to the rookie for the long term at some point.
That didn’t happen, as the Giants couldn’t find a trade partner to move up. But what was a headscratcher is that they didn’t take a flier on a Day 3 prospect or undrafted free agent, which would have cost them very little to do so.
In retrospect, the decision proved to be correct given the value and contributions they received from their rookie class in 2024, but would it have hurt to bring in an undrafted rookie to see if perhaps there was something to be had?
The bottom line is that the Giants are now under pressure to find a quarterback with whom they can win. There is literally no margin for error with this decision, which, by the way, must be made despite the top of the 2025 quarterback being paper thin.
2024 in Review
The Giants quarterbacks room is abot to undergo one of its biggest makeovers in years, which is greatly overdue.
- Rostered Players: Daniel Jones, Drew Lock, Tommy DeVito, Tim Boyle
- Under Contract: None
- No Longer on the Roster: Jones
Daniel Jones
The Giants tried to make it work with Daniel Jones. He got an upgraded offensive line, a number one receiver, an athletic tight end, and he had Brian Daboll, with whom he sat when Daboll was hired to help design the offense, calling the plays for him.
It didn’t work. The final straw for the Giants as far as Jones who won just two of his first 10 games, being the Week 10 overtime loss to the Panthers in Munich.
Why did Jones, who made an impressive return following ACL surgery, fail? The knee surgery removed most of Jones’ best attributes: his legs. That left him to play the position with arm talent and his eyes, and it exposed or rather reminded people of his shortcomings.
Jones’s indecisiveness in when to release the ball on window throws remained a huge problem. If a receiver wasn’t wide open, Jones would just check it down, making it too easy for the defense to close in and limit yards after catch, which this offense relied on getting.
The Giants offense finished with 1,737 YAC, 24th most in the league, but their average YAC per completion (4.7) ranked only above the Panthers and Browns. That was a big problem for the Giants offense.
Even worse, six years into his NFL career, Jones struggled to throw a receiver open. His slow processing time haunted him in the red zone, where the windows were tighter and making quick decisions was imperative. Jons finished 31st among quarterbacks in red-zone play, with a 51.5% completion percentage.
The result? Jones held onto the ball and either took sacks (four in the red zone), threw the ball away or did his best impression of a fullback playing quarterback.
Once Jones lost Saquon Barkley, it was all on his shoulders, and it became evident to the Giatns brass that they're $40 million per year quarterback couldn’t handle the weight.
Drew Lock
A former second round draft pick in 2019, Drew Lock quickly became a journeyman after not being able to stick around in Denver and Seattle. Reportedly told that he would be No. 2 behind Jones and have a chance to boost his stock like how Taylor did the year prior, Lock agreed to join the Giants
Physically, he looks the part: He’s big, athletic, and has a cannon for an arm. But what Lock lacked is what most journeymen lack: the ability to make plays.
When Lock finally got his opportunity, that coming after the coaches went with Tommy DeVito after benching Jones, Lock lost big on Thanksgiving vs. the Cowboys, lost by three points to a very beatable New Orleans team that happened during his worst throwing game of the year (though his best running game), and he lost big to Atlanta.
Then came the Colts game, when Lock suddenly looked like the second coming of Eli Manning in his prime. Lock threw four touchdowns, ran for another, threw for over 300 yards, and looked like a competent quarterback.
That performance turned out to be an aberration, Lock returning to his former self, over-matched and overwhelmed in Week 18 against mostly Eagles backups.
Lock is essentially a one-read quarterback who is similar to Jones in that he’s unable to see the field or run his progressions. He went 1-4 as a starter, and probably did enough in that Colts game to earn himself another one-year contract somewhere, although it would be surprising if that contract comes from the Giants. We don't think it will be with the Giants.
Tommy DeVito
After spending most of the 2024 season as the team’s emergency quarterback, DeVito was named the starter in Week 11 after Jones was benched and then released.
DeVito managed to finish off the loss to Tampa Bay despite taking some heavy hits in the pocket, suffering a forearm injury that prompted the coaches to turn back to Lock, who other than for a Week 14 injury of his own, held the job for the rest of the way.
DeVito stepped in for Lock in that Week 14 game, played a half of listless, minimalist football and left with another injury. If the Giants were looking for some of that magic from the 2023 DeVito mania, they didn’t get it.
DeVito did not throw a touchdown pass, nor did he throw an interception. He took care of the ball, which he’s done now in two seasons. But there were too many instances in which he couldn’t read NFL defenses or make enough plays with his arm, eyes, or head.
An exclusive rights free agent, expect DeVito to return as the “continuity” factor in the Giants’ soon-to-be remade quarterback room.
The Giants offense, said to be one of the most difficult to learn due to all the moving parts, needs to have someone in the room who knows the system and can serve as a “teacher’s aide” for lack of a better term, to any new faces.
DeVito will draw that role in 2025.
Tim Boyle
Signed off the practice squad in mid-December, the 30-year-old Boyle took over the quarterback reins in the second half of the Ravens game when DeVito went down, and it was like a breath of fresh air had been injected into the Giants offense.
Boyle read the defense quickly, got the ball out of his hand to secondary receivers, and gave the offense a jolt of downfield possibility. Three of his downfield throws drew interference calls, while another ended up in receiver Malik Nabers’ hands for a touchdown.
Boyle consistently found the single-covered receiver and gave that guy a chance to make a play.
There was no dinking or dunking. He looked downfield, he played loose, and he ran the offense with quick decision-making and mostly-accurate throws.
We thought Boyle gave this team its best chance to win, but the coaches quickly went back to Drew Lock the following week leaving Boyle to be the supportive teammate that he showed himself to be since his arrival.