New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones had an up-and-down rookie campaign with more ups than downs, but you wouldn’t know that when listening to many of the NFL’s talking heads.
Most have focused on Jones’ fumbling issues as opposed to any other positive metric. Even when the comparison to Lamar Jackson is brought up (15 fumbles as rookie), it’s immediately dismissed because, well… Jones gets the Eli Manning treatment.
Luckily for the Giants and Jones, the second-year quarterback has tremendous potential and no amount of criticism can change that.
In fact, that potential could lead to Super Bowl titles, says Pro Football Focus, who recently ranked Jones as a tier 4 quarterback largely because of his inexperience.
Jones has many similarities to his predecessor, Eli Manning, including a volatile style that can lead to a wide range of outcomes. We saw that in Jones’ rookie season, as fans and detractors alike both had plenty of evidence to back up their respective points.
One of Jones’ best attributes is his willingness to create big plays when under pressure, and that can sometimes lead to spectacular plays as well as disastrous ones. Giants fans are just rooting for the season in which those plays land in Jones’ favor, and that’s precisely how you get the improbable Super Bowl runs that Manning produced.
For comparison purposes, New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold was also listed among tier 4 gun-slingers. So was Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills, Dwayne Haskins of the Washington Redskins and Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals.
