Where QB Daniel Jones Improved in Year 2 and Where He Can Still Get Better

Quarterbacks trainer Tony Racioppi offers insight into where New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has made progress and where he still has room to grow.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
May 31, 2021 8:00 AM EDT

If anyone was wondering, no, New York Giants head coach Joe Judge, who has strongly backed quarterback Daniel Jones throughout last season and into the off-season, hasn't changed his mind about having the 24-year-old.

And yes, Judge has been consistent with his insistence that Jones has matured as both a player and a person with each passing day.

"I'm proud of the way he works every day," Judge said last week. "This guy comes to work every day and whatever phase he's in--if he's in the weight room, getting treatment on field, throwing with his teammates, organizing things outside this building--the guy always has a plan of how he's going to attack things."

But where the Giants' brass has left room for interpretation is why, from a football perspective, they remain so bullish on the former Duke star.

Jones' statistics from Year 1 to Year 2 would suggest that there hasn't been much improvement at all and that in specific categories such as touchdown passes, there's been a regression.

Tony Racioppi, a volunteer counselor at the Manning Passing Academy, and a former NCAA quarterback now with the TEST Football Academy in Martinsville, NJ has trained quarterbacks from the high school to NFL levels.

Racioppi said Jones' growth has indeed very much there, but beyond the stats.

"I think that a lot of times, young quarterbacks do two things," Racioppi said in an interview with the LockedOn Giants podcast.

"Number one, they stare down the number one receiver in progression because the plays are meant for that guy to get the ball first. So they kind of like they stare it down, they double hitch, they hold the ball. I think you saw less of that as the season went on.

"Number two, young quarterbacks kind of pick a guy on a play. For instance, Sterling Shepherd might be option three on the play, but Sterling Shepherd is a really good player. So you kind of, 'Okay, I'm not going to look at (options) one and two; I'm just going to look at three.'

"So they picked guys sometimes instead of trusting their eyes, trusting their feet and trusting the way the play's concept is set up. So I saw less of both as the season went on."

The Giants, in trying to help Jones take that Josh Allen type of leap from Year 2 to Year 3, heavily invested in play-makers on the offensive side of the ball. They added receivers Kenny Golladay and John Ross and tight end Kyle Rudolph in free agency. They also drafted receiver Kadarius Toney and are getting running back Saquon Barkley back from a torn ACL.

As for the offensive line, the Giants brass believes the unit, which last year struggled through some growing pains, will be much more improved this year.

Put another way, any excuses that Jones might have had to lean on last year no longer exist. But while Jones knows he has to do his part, he's also trying to keep things in perspective.

"It's on all 11 guys to do their job every play," he said when asked whether the additional firepower added to the offense puts any more pressure on him.

"That's how we're going to make big plays, is everyone doing their job. It's not on any one person more than the other."

While Jones is correct in that it takes all 11 guys on offense, at some point as the leader of that offense and in being the guy where each offensive play begins, Jones is going to have to rise above his teammates to ensure he's putting them into the best position to find success.

"Absolutely," Jones said when asked if a quarterback can raise the talent level around him. "Yeah, quarterback plays a big part in it--communicating, getting everyone on the same page, getting the ball where it needs to be as quickly and accurately as possible. I think that's a huge part of the equation."

Racioppi believes that Jones' third-year progress won't necessarily be measured by his stat line as much as it will be in whether the quarterback, who has two game-winning drives to his name (both in 2019) in 27 games played, can carry the team across the finish line.

"You're proficient running the offense for the most part, you know, kind of a 'steady Eddie,'" Racioppi said.

"The next jump is winning the game--let's put the ball in your hands. You know, we're down two scores with six minutes left and we're going to throw the ball every single snap--can you go win the game for us?"

The full interview with Tony Racioppi, who also talks about what offensive coordinator Jason Garrett might be able to do, the effect of the offensive line and much more, is below.

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