Giants Can't Really Be Thinking of Ignoring the Quarterback Position, Right?

We'll find out how the Giants feel about their quarterback situation in a matter of days.

The New York Giants would like for people to believe that all’s right in their world when it comes to the quarterback position, that incumbent Daniel Jones, despite his concerning injury history and lack of consistency, can recapture lightning in a bottle and be the signal caller he was in 2022 when the team parlayed a 9-7-1 record into its first postseason berth since 2016.

But come Thursday or perhaps Friday, we’ll find out once and for all just how “right” the Giants' world is at quarterback, and if they really and truly believe that Jones's struggles are a result from circumstances beyond his control.

General manager Joe Schoen, for his part, has continued to insist that once Jones is healthy, the expectation is that he will be the starter. That includes a scenario where if Jones isn’t ready to start the season and Drew Lock must carry the load in the interim, Jones will ultimately get the job back once he’s cleared to go. 

But all this talk about Jones being the starter once healthy likely has another layer to it that Schoen is hoping his fellow general managers don’t notice. Schoen has qualified his statements to include “expectations” and “this year”—nothing definitive has been said, nor has anything indicated that the franchise believes Jones is their starter for the long term.

That’s why it would be a stunning upset if the Giants don’t jump into what’s widely regarded as one of the deepest quarterbacks pools in years and reinforce the position for the long term with a healthier player offering more upside and being one that head coach/quarterback whisperer Brian Daboll can mold into exactly what this franchise needs.

Jones, for his part, claims he’s not worried about what the brass may or may not do come the draft. “I think you can get into trouble when you try to think too much about some of those things and how it all works out,” he said on Monday as the team opened its off-season program. 

“I’m just focused on what I’m doing: rehab, getting healthy, spending time with the guys, and making sure we’re on the same page and having the best spring we can.”

Jones even went as far as to say he was the best option for the Giants once healthy—not that he would have said anything to the contrary. But he is also smart enough to know that the decision on what’s best for the Giants moving forward is not in his hands and that he’s just there to give marching orders.

So, what does this all mean for the Giants? Simply put, all the stars align with where a quarterback is probably all but certain.

You have the qualifiers in what Schoen has said, combined with the fact that the contract the team gave Jones a year ago happens to have an escape hatch that coincides with a season where the quarterback talent in the draft is deep to where if a team wants to have a kid sit for a season, there is a place-holder on the roster who is familiar enough with the offense to run it in a season where not much is likely expected from a Giants team that’s still very deep into its rebuild process.

You also have a team whose ownership has given his blessings to do whatever it takes to get a guy if Schoen and Daboll fall in love, an allowance that likely wouldn’t be made unless the latter duo didn’t float the idea to ownership to begin with. 

And you have an organization that, while it does due diligence on as many prospects as it can at all positions, left no stone unturned when it came to the quarterbacks group. It took advantage of every permissible opportunity to meet or watch these prospects in action to gather as much information as possible necessary for what will be a franchise-changing decision.  

“It’s not just what you see on film at this particular position,” Schoen said when asked what he looks for when evaluating quarterbacks. “You can take what you see on film, but I think it’s equally as important what you can’t see on film and spending time with the prospects…

“I think the film is one thing, but evaluating who they are as people and how they’ll fit into your culture and your franchise is equally important.”

Building around the quarterback is also important, but that is not unique to Jones. Every quarterback would benefit from having a solid offensive line, an effective running game, and a legitimate receiving corps that keeps opposing defensive coordinators up at night.

Despite Schoen’s carefully worded statements, the tea leaves point toward a quarterback being among the Giants’ draft haul. The question becomes who and in what round.  

We'll get the answers starting Thursday night.

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