One of the biggest storylines from the first day of the 2019 NFL Draft was the meteoric rise of Daniel Jones, who suddenly became touted as an elite quarterback prospect despite an unspectacular final year at Duke.
The Giants stunned many analysts and fans by selecting Jones with the sixth overall pick, and the decision to take Jones so early was almost universally panned, as many analysts believed the Giants could have waited and used a later pick. Fans rushed to mock the Giants, and Jones was even booed by fans at a Yankee game in June.
The narrative on Jones started to shift in minicamp, where he impressed teammates and reporters. On Thursday night, Jones got his first chance to prove to fans at MetLife Stadium what he can do – and his preseason debut couldn’t have gone any better.
Jones played just a single series against the Jets, but the 22-year-old was flawless. Jones completed all five of his pass attempts, and capped the drive with an expertly placed 12-yard touchdown pass to Bennie Fowler.
Jones’ performance puts even more pressure on the Giants to decide whether Eli Manning should pass the torch sooner than later.
Not everyone is jumping on the Jones bandwagon, though. Fox Sports’ Skip Bayless still believes Jones is a bust.
