Giants Country

Giants QB Daniel Jones Facing Critical Season Ahead

Jones has an opportunity to silence his remaining critics with a bounce back season.

Patricia Traina

East Rutherford, NJ -- June 11, 2024 -- Quarterback, Daniel Jones is interviewed at the end of practice field at the NY Giants Mandatory Minicamp at their practice facility in East Rutherford, NJ.
East Rutherford, NJ -- June 11, 2024 -- Quarterback, Daniel Jones is interviewed at the end of practice field at the NY Giants Mandatory Minicamp at their practice facility in East Rutherford, NJ. / Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA
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Can New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones finally silence his critics by having a performance on par, if not better than the one he delivered in 2022?

That’s one of the biggest questions the team and its fan base are hoping for, especially after the Giants passed on the opportunity to add a quarterback in this year’s draft.

“I think the most important thing to realize about Daniel Jones–and I get it–is people will say, ‘Well, one playoff season. That's it.’” Paul Dottino, a New York Giants broadcast team member, told the Locked On Giants podcast. 

“There are injury issues. So, durability has been another negative for him. I can't dispute that. Those are the facts. One playoff season and a bunch of missed games. Those are facts; I will never dispute the facts.”

However, Dottino, in his defense of Jones, pointed to a recent graphic comparing the statistical production of the Giants quarterback to that of Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who just signed a record-breaking five-year extension worth $275 million with $142 million fully guaranteed.

“There's a perception out there that Trevor Lawrence is one of the best young quarterbacks in the league and deserves this contract. But then, if you ask people about Daniel Jones, they want to throw him off the top of the Palisades and into the Hudson River,” Dottino said.

Doubling down on his assertion, Dottino mentioned Jones’s rushing prowess. The Giants quarterback has 1,914 career rushing yards on 332 carries (5.76 yards per carry) and 13 touchdowns, while Lawrence has 964 yards on 205 carries (4.7 yards per carry) for 11 touchdowns.

“When you put that into the cauldron, the soup doesn't taste so bad, does it?” Dottino concluded.

The veteran broadcaster scoffed when it was mentioned that Jones possesses a 22-36-1 record as a starting quarterback (Lawerence’s won-lon 

Despite his defense of Jones, Dottino admitted that Jones didn’t play well last season but believes that the performance was a cumulation of negative factors–the Andrew Thomas and Saquon Barkley injuries, for example–creating a snowball effect.

“Honestly, my opinion is that it snowballed on him. When Andrew Thomas got hurt in the first game of the season, because remember now, the first drive against the Cowboys that opened the season, he was sensational, brought him right down the field. 

“And then what happened? Three consecutive blown plays in a row, capped by the block field goal that resulted in Andrew Thomas getting a serious hamstring injury, which he then continued to try to play through but clearly made him ineffective. 

“From that moment forward, every single negative that could have happened compounded each other and just took Daniel Jones down the tank with every one of those issues.” 

Dottino concluded by stating that, had Jones not torn his ACL in the Week 9 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, his season would have turned out differently.

“I firmly believe if Daniel Jones, if he does not get hurt in that (Raiders) game, (he) is prepared to go on a better run,” he said.

Despite Dottino’s claims, the fact remains that the Giants not only were reported to be looking to trade up in the draft order for Drake Maye but that general manager Joe Schoen, in constructing the four-year, $160 million extension for Jones, put an out clause in there after two seasons.

Those two actions right there--and one can probably toss in the fact that the Giants declined to pick up Jones's fifth-year option in his rookie deal–raise valid questions as to whether the team is truly convinced that it had its long-term answer at quarterback.

They further set the stage for this coming season being the absolute “make or break” year for Jones, who is pushing to be ready for the start of training camp and has been working his tail off in the off-season to ensure that he finally silences his critics. 

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Patricia Traina

PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for over three decades for various media outlets. She is the host of the Locked On Giants podcast and the author of "The Big 50: New York Giants: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants" (Triumph Books, September 2020). View Patricia's full bio.

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