Folks, football is officially back. Over the course of the next month and a half you will see that said multiple times until football (hopefully) kicks off on Thursday, September 10th when the Chiefs host the Texans. It will be a glorious site when that happens because I miss football so damn much.
But that’s not what I want to talk about today. I want to take a few minutes out of your day, if you’ll indulge me, and talk about the second year quarterback of the team that I love so much, the New York Giants. That’s right, I want to preach the good news of Daniel “Dimes” Stephen Jones III and what he needs to mean to the New York Giants this season and beyond.
I’m the first to admit that I didn’t like the draft pick of Daniel Jones when he first came out. I thought he had a noodle arm. I thought that his stats in college didn’t scream anything more than him being a game manager at the NFL level. I thought that John Mara & Co. were only drafting him over other quarterbacks to replace the void that will be left by Eli Manning since they look and sound exactly like each other.
But after watching Danny Dimes play his rookie season, I quickly became a fan. Obviously he was lights out in preseason but preseason results should always be taken with a grain of salt. What I really enjoyed about Daniel Jones was his first career start in Tampa where he carried the team on his back to erase an 18 point deficit to win the game.
That was leadership.
He grew on me even more as his throws seemed to get better and better as the season went on. His deep ball accuracy was much better last season than what he showed on tape in college. His poise in the pocket was incredible. The biggest issue that he had was his fumbling issues but that’s a coachable fix!
As he enters the second year of his career, you want to see even more improvement. You want to see the turnovers reduced. You want to see his decision making get even better. You want to see his pocket awareness improve even more. It’s not just about stats despite the fact that stats are now king in today’s NFL.
The thing is that the 2020 New York Giants could go as far as Danny Dimes takes them. We’ve seen quarterbacks rise up and carry Giants teams in the past. Who could forget Eli Manning willing a mediocre team that ranked dead last in rushing and 25th in defensive points per game to a Super Bowl title? It’s also important to note that Eli Manning was in his eighth year in the league when he did that and putting those expectations on a second year quarterback in a new system with a new head coach and an abysmal looking defense is completely unfair.
That being said, what if Daniel Jones was able to carry the Giants to a ten win season? Even if the Giants went 8-8 that would be a huge win this season. It absolutely takes three years to evaluate a quarterback’s worth in today’s NFL in most cases but if Daniel Jones could establish himself as someone who could carry a team then it would mean that the Giants future is in incredibly good hands.
When it comes down to it, the Giants need Daniel Jones to become the team’s best player. We could build a great team on both sides of the ball but if Jones doesn’t develop into a quarterback who could win games for the Giants then it’s all for naught. The process for Jones developing starts right now and I for one am hopeful that he will take the next step!