New York Giants Training Camp Preview - QB Daniel Jones

As quarterback Daniel Jones goes, so too will the Giants. Let's take a deep dive into what Jones has put on tape so far and what would arguably constitute a successful third season.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Jun 22, 2021 10:00 AM EDT

We now get to the man who is without question the most important member of this Giants football team, the man who, as he goes, so too will the Giants.

That would be quarterback Daniel Jones, who enters his third season looking to take a significant leap in his development to at least a top third ranking.

Jones, the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft, hasn’t yet looked like a top-10 pick. But to be fair in the analysis, the Giants didn’t exactly help him in his first two years.

As a rookie, Jones was thrown into the starting lineup after the Giants went 0-2 to start the 2019 season. But in rushing to get Jones on the field, the Giants did the rookie no favors. Jones was sacked 40 times in his rookie campaign playing behind an inconsistent (and not very good) offensive line, his sack total tying him for seventh-most among quarterbacks that season.

Jones, who finished his rookie campaign with a 61.9 completion percentage, 24 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions, also wasn’t exactly the fastest decision maker out there. How much of that was due to him trying to gain a comfort level in an offense that was undoubtedly more complex than what he ran at Duke is undoubtedly worth considering.

But the biggest issue with Jones as a rookie and into last year was his ball security. Jones has twice led the league in fumbles in 2019 (18) and 2020 (11)—that’s 29 fumbles in 25 games. Jones’s ball security issue has been so bad that ESPN’s Bill Barnwell picked Jones as the favorite to break the NFL’s fumbles record.

Let’s get a little deeper into Jones’s game.

What He Brings

Jones was the offense’s leading rusher for most of the season, his ability to snake through traffic on planned read options a talent that helped an offense that lost its top rushing threat, Saquon Barkley.

When Jones takes off as a runner, he will get hit, and an argument can be made that some of the injuries that have forced him to miss games have come when he has taken off with the ball in his hands.

But running abilities aside, let’s zero in on Jones’s pocket presence, which is where it all starts with him. His release is not quick, nor are his downfield reads. For proof of that, consider how despite averaging 2.84 seconds to throw (ninth-best mark in the NFL last year), Jones had the sixth-lowest completion percentage among that nine-quarterback sample size.

Decision making? Let’s just say that needs to improve and in a hurry, as Jones at times appeared not only to struggle to trust what he was seeing, he couldn’t ad-lib out there. Jones finished second, behind Kyle Allen of Carolina in turnover-worthy play percentage (5.9%), which considers pass attempts that either was or should have been turnovers.

The good news is that the more comfortable he becomes out there running this offense, the better the chance of him developing as a decision-maker and a quarterback who can make quicker reads, which is where it all starts with Jones.

Let’s also give credit where it’s due. Jones seems to finally understand that it’s okay to bail on a play rather than risk being hit and fumble or to force a ball that ends up being picked off.

Want a late-season example? Look at his Week 16 showing against the Ravens when he was under duress 39.6% of the time, yet didn’t lose the ball once.

In Year 3, there are three things to look for as far as Jones’s improvement extends beyond the stats.

The first is a continued feel for the pocket and pressure around him, which he started to show progress with in the second half of last year.

The second is his ability to scan the entire field if his first read is taken away; this should fall into place once he develops trust with the offensive line being able to hold their blocks for a reasonable amount of time. And finally, Jones needs to begin trusting more of what he sees rather than second-guessing himself and making costly mistakes.

His Contract

Jones is entering Year 3 of his rookie deal and will count for $7.174 million against the salary cap, or 3.9% of the team’s total cap. On August 5, he has a training camp roster bonus due, according to Over the Cap.

Roster Projection/Expectations

The Giants have finally put a legitimate supporting cast around Jones, starting with a young yet promising offensive line the coaches feel can get the job done. They also added a legitimate red-zone threat (tight end Kyle Rudolph) and speedy receivers who can make the big plays down the field (Kenny Golladay and John Ross) and are getting ready to welcome running back Saquon Barkley to the fold at some point.

In short, there are no excuses for Jones to come up short this year. Zero. Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett has always been a proponent of the deep vertical game, something we didn’t see last year; how much of that was due to the lack of healthy talent to execute those plays is certainly worth debating.

But, again, Jones needs to do his part. It starts with pristine ball security—turnovers are unacceptable at this point. If they continue, the coaches need to give some thought to sitting him.

Decision-making is also going to be key. This isn’t practice where Jones can throw on the red jersey and sit back in the pocket, waiting all day for someone to become open while also not having to worry about taking a hit. While some will argue that’s the competitor in him, there’s a fine line between being competitive and being smart in knowing when to give up on a play.

“He’s going to get judged by two things. He’s going to get judged by the postseason, so he's got to get to the postseason,” said NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger.

“And then you're going to get judged by the bad plays versus your good plays—touchdown to interception ratio, which is a fair stat. Then if you add fumbles--you want to keep interceptions and lost fumbles under 10 in a season, which is doable and reasonable. You certainly don't want that to be above 15.

“You also want to be approaching 30 touchdowns, and you want to win in the fourth quarter of games, you know, when you have a chance to go down to the field and win a game. That's what Daniel Jones is been drafted to do, and he's got to do that now.”

Jones has the talent. He can make all the throws, he has a good command of the huddle, he’s smart, and he has a good work ethic. But all that means nothing if when under fire, he comes up small.

The Giants believe Jones is their long-term answer at quarterback. Jones, simply put, needs to justify that confidence by delivering the best season of his budding NFL career.

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