10 Most Indispensable New York Giants: No. 3 is One They Can't Afford to Be Without

As he has grown more comfortable with this offensive system, the Giants would be lost without Daniel Jones.

Author:
Andrew Parsaud
Publish date:
Jul 13, 2023 10:08 AM EDT

In this story:

New York Giants

Daniel Jones, Quarterback

Height: 6-foot-5 | Weight: 220 lbs.
College: Duke | NFL Exp: 5
Career Stats: Passing - 1113/1740, 11,603 yards, 60 touchdowns, 34 interceptions
Rushing - 292 attempts, 1708 yards, 12 touchdowns

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has had an interesting career up to this point. After being selected with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft, many believed Jones wasn’t worthy of being picked that high. In his rookie season, Jones passed for 3,027 yards and 24 touchdowns with 12 interceptions, and won an NFC Offensive Player of the Week award for his first NFL start in Week 3, performances which started to quiet some of the critics.

Then it started to go haywire for Jones’ development. The Giants fired then-head coach/offensive play-caller Pat Shurmur and brought in Joe Judge as the head coach and Jason Garrett as the offensive coordinator. With Judge and Garrett in Jones’s ear during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, many believed that hindered Jones’ growth as a quarterback.

During those seasons, Jones threw for 5,371 yards and 21 touchdowns with 17 interceptions, taking a big step back from what seemed to be a promising rookie season.

When the Giants fully cleaned house after the 2021 season, they brought in Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll as general manager and head coach, respectively. This, along with the addition of Mike Kafka as the offensive coordinator, was the best possible thing that could’ve happened for the young quarterback.

Kafka and Daboll went on to get the best out of Jones in their first season working with him. In 2022, Jones threw for 3,205 yards and 15 touchdowns with just five interceptions. He also added 708 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. Jones’s performance led the Giants to a 9-7-1 record, their first winning season since 2016. On top of that, they also won their first playoff game since Super Bowl XLVI.

With that showing, Jones convinced the organization to keep investing in him. In March, the Giants rewarded their quarterback with a four-year, $160 million contract, ensuring Jones would be their guy going forward. Jones’ growth as a player and a leader has been the best-case scenario as the Giants look forward to building off of their 2022 successes.

Top 10 Indispensable Players

Why Daniel Jones is Indispensable

Daniel Jones is a legitimate dual-threat quarterback. His arm and the ability to extend plays with his feet is a gigantic advantage for this coaching staff to utilize Jones differently. Not to mention, Jones’s speed also makes it extremely difficult for defenders to catch him in open space.

He has a unique skill set that just a few quarterbacks possess. Now as he’s growing in a system that allows him more freedom, the sky's the limit for Jones in this offense. The other quarterbacks on the roster are incapable of doing what Jones can. If he were to go down, who would replace him?

Tyrod Taylor is currently the backup. Even though Taylor is on the older side, he is known as a mobile quarterback, and the offense could somewhat still function if he were inserted into the lineup. However, Taylor is prone to injuries.

Last year in Week 4, Taylor took a nasty hit against the Bears, resulting in a concussion. That scenario was where Jones hurt his ankle and had to come out of the game. They even had to insert running back Saquon Barkley in the wildcat formation for a few plays.

Jones also forced himself back in, but he shouldn’t have had to if Taylor hadn't taken an unnecessary hit. The options behind Jones this year are no better, as it's Taylor and, as of right now, undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito.

Jones is also becoming more comfortable in an offensive system for the first time in his career. He had two seasons of Garrett, but that was never going anywhere. Daboll and Kafka got the most out of Jones in an offense that saw numerous injuries to the wide receiver and offensive line positions. With added weapons and protection, Jones is primed to take the next step.

What Happens if He’s Missing?

If Jones was missing from the lineup, it would be very difficult to operate the offense at the same speed and intensity with Taylor or another quarterback at the helm. They likely couldn’t push the ball down the field, which is the staff’s plan going into this year.

While Taylor is mobile, he’s not as fast as Jones and likely wouldn’t have the same effect on the run game. The RPO game would also be hindered, as Jones has mastered the art of fooling defenses with fake handoffs.

The Giants wouldn’t come close to replacing his production, either. While Jones doesn’t have eye-popping numbers from last year, they likely won’t have another option on the roster to throw for over 3,200 yards and 15 touchdowns. Taylor would be their only option to try and replace Jones in his absence.

Final Thoughts

Jones has expectations on his shoulders, as do the rest of the Giants team. A playoff win and a big contract later, Jones is now expected to perform at a high level consistently and keep the Giants at a competitive rate as long as he’s the quarterback.

There were health concerns about Jones in his first three years, as he missed 11 games from 2019-2021. He hurt his ankle last season but did not miss any time, playing and starting in 16 regular season games and two playoff games (the only game he didn’t play in was Week 18 when the Giants elected to rest starters).

Fans would like to see Jones get back to throwing deep like he did during his rookie season. The offense is certainly primed to do so, with the additions of Darren Waller, Parris Campbell, and Jalin Hyatt. There are no more questions about whether Jones is the franchise quarterback anymore. He is, and he needs to prove the organization right by going out and commanding this offense.