One Giant Leap, Part III: Daniel Jones' best shot
One Giant Leap, Part III: Daniel Jones' best shot
His GM loaded up with talent. His head coach is the best teacher of the position in the sport. Now, it's on quarterback Daniel Jones to deliver. Here's the final installment of our series.
Our three-part series on the New York Giants is available to paid subscribers.
ICYMI:
Part I: Joe Schoen's Vision
Part II: Building a Champion
Part III is below…
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — This is where we’re obligated to inform you that Daniel Jones stinks. Those are the rules, right?
This is the point of a New York Giants discussion that we’re supposed to stop making excuses for the quarterback who has started 61 games and attempted nearly 2,000 passes. Shurmur or Judge or Daboll. Gettleman or Schoen. Beard, no beard. The circumstances — most believe — are inconsequential. When the quarterback fresh off a torn ACL threw a cartoonish interception his first game back this month, a jury of his twittering peers wielded their best memes.
It's August. All teams are 0-0. End of Times dread, nonetheless, worms its way into the Giants discourse. This could be the season the quarterback hits a rock bottom nobody can ignore. A surgically repaired knee wasn’t the only reason Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll took a long look at those rookie quarterbacks. Their flirtation proved they’ve got doubts themselves.
If the New England Patriots were willing to tango, Drake Maye would be a Giant.
Seeing his bosses so enamored by those 2024 rookie quarterbacks lit a fire in Jones.
“Obviously there’s something inside of you that kind of gets going and it ticks you off a little bit to see,” Jones said to Go Long in our 1 on 1. “It’s not fun and not something that you’re excited about. … It’s my job to play well regardless.”
No starting quarterback has had it worse than Jones the last six seasons. If it’s not coaching, it’s the personnel around him. If it’s not personnel, it’s injuries. But, now, he’s healthy. With Malik Nabers. With a new offensive line. With that loaded defensive line getting him the ball back. So even a vanilla quarterback who doesn’t say much allowed a moment of confidence to burst here underneath a lip of shape at Giants HQ. Teammates dap him up as they walk by. Each greeting is another reminder of the player he can still be.
Yes, Jones “absolutely” views himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
“Because I’ve done it,” he said. “And I’ve played at a really high level and I understand I need to play consistently at that level, but I think we got the guys and we’ve got the makeup of the team for us all to play at a really high level, including me. I know I can.”
New York may forever look back at that 2024 draft with immense regret.
Some days, it feels like we’ve all been debating the merits of Daniel Stephen Jones III since blood trickled down the forehead of Y.A. Tittle. One can only imagine how much the Giants themselves have spent figuring out if this is their franchise quarterback. But in this moment, as Week 1 vs. the Minnesota Vikings nears, the belief is real.
From Schoen on down, the Giants describe a much different quarterback than the one mocked en masse.
They see a player on the brink of a breakout.