The New York Giants drafted Duke quarterback Daniel Jones for more than just his arm, intelligence and striking similarities to Eli Manning.
They love his versatility. You see, Jones can run for positive yards — lots of them — when both needed and called upon.
In an 11-on-11 drill at the Giants’ minicamp on Tuesday, Jones was given the opportunity to run the RPO, or the run-pass option, where the quarterback uses their discretion to either pass the football or run upfield with it. He chose to run and gained about 30 yards before running out of bounds. It is a play the Giants could never employ with Manning under center.
“Just a normal zone read,” said head coach Pat Shurmur after practice. “He took off running. We have had them in our offense depending on who the quarterback is and his skill set. That is always available to us. He looked good. Looked like he scored.”
It was a new wrinkle for the Giants and Jones’ teammates loved it. Not sure if Manning did, but the offense has been craving some creativity, spontaneity and imagination for years now and Jones looks like he might be able to provide those.
“I think it is fun,” said Shurmur. “He has a red shirt on, so they aren’t going to hit him. The initial part of the zone read was good. He got himself out in space pretty quickly.”
In reviewing the play, Jones’ run would have likely been cut short by a tackler, but it was refreshing to see the quarterback show such mobility. In his three seasons at Duke, Jones rushed for 1,323 yards and 17 touchdowns, including a touchdown run of 68 yards.
“He obviously moves around well,” said Shurmur. “He is down there around the 4.6 mark. I think he had 17 rushing touchdowns. He can move around and that is a huge part. If a quarterback can move around, not so much on just structured runs but the ability to be able to create a play within a passing play, I think he can do that.”
Jones knows Shurmur is seeking to get more mobility out of the quarterback position and is not going to be afraid to show off this summer.
“It is something I did a whole lot in college at Duke,” Jones said. “It is something I am comfortable doing. When the offense calls for it, I am comfortable doing it. I take pride in being able to run a little bit. We have a lot of good running backs, but if it is a call and it is open for me, I am comfortable doing it.”
