Former Giant Logan Ryan Weighs in on Daniel Jones’s Future with Giants

Ryan recognizes Daniel Jones's shortcomings but suggests he turn it loose in whatever time he has left as the Giants' starter.

Oct 28, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) warms up before playing the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

With each passing week, it’s becoming more and more obvious that the New York Giants and quarterback Daniel Jones are headed for a split after this season, as Jones continues to struggle in his sixth season doing all the things a franchise quarterback of his experience should be doing. 

And because of that, add New York Giants safety Logan Ryan to the growing list of people who believe Jones is on borrowed time.  

“Unfortunately for Daniel Jones, I do think his time in New York is over after this season,” Ryan said on an appearance on CBS Sports HQ. 

“They’ve tried to give him as many chances as they can. They’ve tried to put the talent around him, they’ve tried to build an offensive line, and that just hasn’t worked, and they’ve even tried to get him a No. 1 receiver in Malik Nabers, which has only helped a little bit.”

Ryan’s points are well taken. Jones’s sixth campaign under center has been a mixed bag for the Giants. He has completed 62.6 percent of his passes for 1,706 yards and six touchdowns and has added another 53 carries and 185 yards on the ground to sit third on the team’s rushing leaderboard. 

On the flip side, Jones’ performances have continued to be marred by the same mistakes seen since his rookie campaign. He has five interceptions through eight games, which ties the total picks he threw in 2023. He has been highly criticized for his poor initial reads and for forcing the ball into spaces and targets, where it’s often a fresh kill for opposing defenders. 

Jones also hasn’t been able to consistently lead the Giants offense downfield to win games that were right there for the taking. With their slow starts to games this season, New York has averaged just 14.6 points and has yet to score a passing touchdown at home this season. 

Giants head coach Brian Daboll has remained committed to having Jones as the starter, opining that he gives the team its best chance to win. And if that’s indeed true, then Ryan has a suggestion that might help.

“I just want to see Daniel Jones let it loose…being around him as a former teammate of mine, you love to be around the guy during the week. He is one of the hardest workers in the locker room and he takes the blame when things don’t go well, but now you want to see his best ball in the fourth quarter.”

An honest assessment of the Giants' lackluster season would tell you the team’s problems go far beyond Jones’s faults in their close losses. In reality, it’s those pieces that Ryan mentioned across the offense that deserve a share of the burden of where the franchise sits with a 2-6 record. 

The offensive line, which was retooled in the offseason to include three pass-blocking veterans and All-Pro left tackle Andrew Thomas, has fallen off a cliff in the past two contests. Thomas was lost for the season with a Lisfranc injury suffered in Week 7, and the unit has since instantly crumbled under pressure, dropping several notches to 20th in team pass block win rate of 71 percent. 

After holding a few opponents to under two sacks earlier in the schedule, the starting front allowed eight sacks against the Eagles, which stifled the offense to three points, and another four for 27 yards against the Steelers. 

They also had the old issue of constant pre-snap penalties that kept backing up any progress made on that side of the ball, and that was evident in Jones's emotions throughout the game.

The Giants’ core of pass catchers hasn’t done their quarterback any favors either, with their reoccurring case of the drops that continued to rear its ugly head against Pittsburgh. They currently hold 17 drops on the year, which ranks third in the NFL behind the Packers and Browns. Often, they’ve soiled solid throws by Jones that stalled their drives on important late-down conversions. 

When it’s all come together nicely, it’s helped Jones and company play at a more efficient and successful rate. In their wins over Cleveland and Seattle, the Giants offense went for 340 and 420 total yards, respectively, and were nearly perfect in the passing game with five combined touchdowns to earn those two difficult road victories in hostile environments. 

Yet, it didn’t pan out in Pittsburgh, and the bell has been sounded on the lack of growth that’s needed to be seen consistently in his position. 

---

Recommended Reading

• Frustrated Giants Trying to Maintain Focus

• Giants O-Line Sinks in New Ranking

• How the Commanders' Defense Might Be Different This Time

• How the Commanders Offense Might Be Different This Time

• Malik Nabers Looking to “Drop” This Negative in His Game

• The Biggest Change in Giants QB Daniel Jones's Game (And Why It's Doing Him In)

---

No matter what the faults are, Jones is the leader of the offense, and that will always place heftier expectations upon him, ones that Ryan still believes he can turn around for himself regardless of where his next team resides. It starts with making sure he isn’t the main reason his team loses on Sundays, and that will pop up on the film. 

 “You can’t have your two turnovers of the game come in the fourth quarter,” Ryan said. “We know he can be efficient as a passer, and his completion percentages are decent, but he doesn't take enough shots downfield, and he doesn’t make the plays that go and win you the games.

“When you’re paying a guy $40 million, you can’t just be a game manager; you have to pay him to go win those games in the fourth quarter, and he hasn’t been able to do much of that. I would love for him to realize that his time might be there, but go let it loose, get some Jameis Winston to him, throw the ball downfield, and see what happens.”

Jones and the Giants will have their next opportunity to achieve that possibility on Sunday afternoon at home against the Washington Commanders, a team the Duke product has fared well against in his handful of meetings, and what a better matchup to start writing a potential resume for the next chapter on the gridiron.

---

JOIN THE NEW YORK GIANTS ON SI COMMUNITY!

• Follow and like us on Facebook.
• Submit your questions for our mailbag.
• Follow on Instagram.
• Check out the Giants Country YouTube Channel.