New York Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones burst onto the scene in his first NFL start last Sunday in Tampa with an eye-popping performance for the ages. Jones passed for 336 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 112.7 rating and added two rushing touchdowns in the Giants’ 32-31 comeback win versus the Buccaneers.
In the process, Jones became the first rookie with at least 300 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in a single game since 1970.
There’s more to this performance than meets the eye. According to Pat Thorman (@Pat_Thorman), Jones was under pressure on 47% of his dropbacks (3rd highest of Week 3) and competed 80% of pressured attempts for 233 yards, 2 TDs, and a perfect 158.3 passer rating.
PFF fantasy football analyst Scott Barrett (@ScottBarrettDFB) tweeted the following:
“FYI, that’s the 4th-most pressured passing yards by any QB in any regular season game in PFF history (2007-2019)…Over that span, there are 1,674 instances of a QB attempting at least 12 pressured pass attempts in a game. Jones is the first to record a perfect passer rating.”
The breakout performance has not gone unnoticed by oddsmakers. According to NFL Draft Diamonds.
Giants’ rookie quarterback now finds himself as the sole favorite to be named the 2019 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year at plenty of sportsbooks around the market, including several in New Jersey.
DraftKings moved Jones to +200 to win the award; FoxBet isn’t too far behind at +225. Arizona Cardinals quarterback and No. 1 overall draft pick Kyler Murray is the second favorite at both books.
Jones will be likely without the assistance of Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley for the next two months, so he’ll probably be passing more and he could easily find himself racking up some big numbers in the passing game like he did in the second half of the Tampa Bay game after Barkley went down with a high ankle sprain.
