Why Daniel Jones is the Future for the Giants

With Daniel Jones ACL tear it is safe to say that the 2-7 Giants' season is officially over, as with future high school PE teacher Tommy DeVito running the offense there is zero hope of finding the 7 or so wins that would put them into playoff contention. However, aside from last season, since 2016 Giants fans are hardly strangers to watching their team sleepwalk through the last 5-9 games of a season as only the next year’s draft offers a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel. And with the strength of the 2024 NFL draft class many are going to the light far faster than normal. With quarterbacks from reigning Heisman Caleb Williams, to Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., and a handful of others, it would be safe to assume that many teams are looking to start their future soon with a new talented QB. With the Giants only realistically having a chance to win 3 games at most of their remaining season a top 5 pick seems inevitable, and the top pick does not seem out of reach. This has led to the annual Daniel Jones witch hunt with the fans, media, and public claiming that he is the problem, and a new QB would fix that, however a deeper look into the stats paints a different picture.

Anyone who has watched a single Giants game this season could likely tell you where the true problem has come from, an injury-riddled, subpar offensive line who consists of a retirement home couch dweller, a rookie center, and a revolving door of tackles and guards to wedge themselves into the O-Line as smoothly as the square peg into a round hole. This can be seen in the fact that Daniel Jones has had the 5th lowest pocket time in the league, all while being the 31st most blitzed QB. This means that more players are able to drop back in coverage as teams know that they will be able to get home with 4 players instantly. To add to DJ’s misery he leads the league in sack percentage at a whopping 15.8%, almost 3% higher than 2nd placed running back Justin Fields, who fun fact leads the league in pocket time. Despite all of this Danny Dimes continues to live up to the name with the 9th lowest bad throw percentage, and 9th highest on target percentage, showing once again that he elevates above his surroundings. Speaking of his surroundings, Daniel Jones’s immaculate grid receiver core continuously lets him down, shown in their unwillingness to make a play with the ball in their hands, sporting a 30th best yards after catch per reception this season. If the Giants do end up with the number one pick, the haul that could be received for it to even move down 1 spot would be far more worthwhile for the Giants future. Up to the 23/24 season Daniel Jones had shown marked improvement every year in every aspect of the game, and taking into account his 4 year deal he just signed, one would assume that the Giants would make the right choice and stick with Vanilla Vick.

(Stats accurate through Week 9 of the 23/24 season) Via: Pro Football Reference