New York Giants 2024 Training Camp Preview: Quarterbacks

It’s now or never for Daniel Jones. Can he finally silence the critics?

East Rutherford, NJ December 31, 2023 -- Giants quarterbacks Daniel Jones and Tommy DeVito on on the field during pre-game warm-ups. The New York Giants host the Los Angeles Rams on December 31, 2023, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. / Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA

Gone are the days when the New York Giants didn’t have to worry about the quarterback position. The Giants and their current starter, Daniel Jones, face a critical year ahead in which Jones, who has yet to establish any kind of consistency in his performance from year to year, needs to play like the $40+ million quarterback he is being paid to be or take a seat.

Jones is not completely to blame for his struggles, as we’ll note throughout this piece, but we think it was very telling how on Hard Knocks, the Giants looked into trading up with New England to get a quarterback (presumably Drake Maye) and how head coach Brian Daboll said he would trade up for a chance at Jayden Daniels, who went second overall to the Washington Commanders.

Some will say that was just the Giants doing due diligence, and perhaps they’re right. During Eli Manning’s time with the team, the Giants drafted quarterbacks, even trading up in 2013 to draft Ryan Nassib out of Syracuse. The quarterback that then-general manager Jerry Reese said he hoped never had to play because it would have meant that Manning was injured.

However, with all due respect to general manager Joe Schoen and Daboll, teams don’t look to trade up in the first round to get a quarterback unless they plan to make that player a part of the franchise’s cornerstone.

So yes, there do appear to be questions about Jones’s future as this team's quarterback. They are valid questions, and if Joens can’t answer either due to another injury or a lack of progress in his performance, backup Drew Lock will ride out the season while the Giants, who ended up not drafting a quarterback from this year’s rich talent pool, figure out where to go from here.

Rostered Players

Daniel Jones: After looking like he was indeed the long-term answer, Jones not only regressed in his comfort level and play-making ability one year into his four-year, $160 million contract, but he also suffered his second neck injury in three years and a torn ACL which casts doubt on his immediate future. 

Drew Lock: Lock’s play style differs from Jones’s in that he has shown himself to be more aggressive when it comes to going for the big plays that this offense sorely lacked last year. Although Lock might have more turnovers because of his aggressive nature, at some point, one has to take a chance in a game, something the Giants, again, didn’t do a lot of last year.  

Tommy DeVito: The gritty New Jersey native rose to fame in a Cinderella-like stint in which he won three games in a row as a starter to keep the Giants slim playoff hopes last year alive. However, the magic wore off, and DeVito soon found himself back on the bench while Tyrod Taylor took over. Still, the Cedar Grove native showed that the game wasn’t too big for him. How much he’s improved will go a long way toward determining his immediate future.

Nathan Rourke: Rourke was a Canadian Football League (CFL) star for the British Columbia Lions, who drafted him in the second round of the 2020 CFL draft. During the 2022 season, Rourke set a single-season CFL record for completion percentage (78.7 percent) during the 2022 season. He finished his CFL career having gone 307 of 406 (76 percent) for 4,105 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions and earned the CFL Most Outstanding Canadian Award in 2022. Thus far, though, he’s been unable to transfer that success to the NFL.

Biggest Unanswered Question

Can Daniel Jones salvage his career as a starter?

The New York Giants haven’t done Daniel Jones any favors (other than rewarding his one good year with a four-year, $160 million contract, some might say) as far as building a team around him, but to place all the blame on the Giants isn’t fair.

Jones, thanks to how he’s hardwired, plays the game to be tough. But at times, he is reckless in that he doesn’t know when to call it a day and, as a result, puts himself in harm’s way. This could be due to feeling pressure to make a play if others around him are failing to do so, but for as long as he’s been with the team, he’s had at least one coach try to get him to understand that it’s okay to live to see the next down.

A bigger issue has been Jones's slow processing time. You watch him, and sometimes he looks like a deer caught in the headlights. You see opportunities down the field missed, and you also wonder if he’s so shell-shocked after being pummeled by the poor blocking of his offensive lines that he’s heading down the path former NFL quarterback David Carr went when he was with the Houston Texans. 

That all said, the Giants have done everything possible this year to ensure Jones finds success. His general manager, Joe Schoen, says he still believes in him, but why explore possibly trading up to get another quarterback? Maybe it was the injury history that drove such a decision, but one can’t help but wonder how much of that was also driven by the flaws in Jones’s game.

That said, Jones is getting one last chance to silence his critics. The Giants upgraded the offensive line. They added a potential No. 1 receiver. They are switching play callers to head coach Brian Daboll, whose creativity shown in Buffalo was a big draw for teams looking to hire him as their head coach.

Barring a rash of injuries to his supporting cast, it’s up to Jones to grab the bull by the horns and silence his critics. If he doesn’t, that’s on him and only him. 

East Rutherford, NJ -- Daniel Jones of the Giants on the sidelines in the second half. The NY Giants host the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ on October 22, 2023. / Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA

Training Camp Battle to Watch

Tommy Devito vs. Nathan Rourke for QB3

DeVito is in a favorable position right now, as the off-season fell his way. For one, the Giants didn’t draft a quarterback–had they done so, DeVito almost certainly would have had an uphill battle to make the team behind Jones, new backup Drew Lock, and the rookie.

Second and perhaps more importantly, DeVito might benefit if Jones is held out of preseason games as a precaution. If that happens, look for Lock and DeVito to get the lion’s share of the reps. If DeVito shows improvement, that will be a feather in his cap and potentially force the Giants to carry him on the 53-man roster.

Rourke, who has bounced around in the NFL after starring in the CFL, needs to show that he has a better grasp on the complexities of NFL defenses and that he’s no longer overwhelmed. Right now, DeVito enters training camp with a clear advantage and will probably win this battle. 

For those wondering if DeVito has a chance of becoming QB2, never say never, but based on the distribution of reps during the spring, it’s not a stretch to say that Lock has a clear edge over DeVito for that role.  

Camp Position Grade: C-

Until proven otherwise, this position group is a big question mark. You can start with Jones, whose career as the Giants starter is definitely on the line. Lock has the tools to be a good option, but until he gets on the field and shows it, he, too, is a question mark. 

And DeVito, who catapulted to fame last year when pressed into action prematurely as an undrafted rookie, also needs to show he’s taken a quantum leap in his decision-making process.  

Early 53-man Roster Projections

• Starter:  Daniel Jones
• Backups:  Drew Lock, Tommy DeVito
• Practice Squad:  Nathan Rourke
• Cuts:  N/A

The Giants generally don’t keep two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, but with Jones’s injury history,  they probably can’t afford to risk exposing DeVito to the waiver wire, especially if they end up sitting Joens during the preseason and have Lock and DeVito do most of the heavy lifting. 

As for Rourke, with Lock set to be a UFA and DeVito an ERFA, head coach Brian Daboll usually likes to have some carryover in the quarterback room as far as having players who know the system. Stashing Rourke on the practice squad could be much easier than trying to slide DeVito there.  

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Other Position Previews

• Wide Receivers
• Offensive Line
• Tight Ends
• Defensive Line
• Inside Linebackers

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