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New York Giants Mailbag: In Defense of Daniel Jones

Let's see what's on the minds of the readers this week.

Patricia Traina

New York Giants Mailbag
New York Giants Mailbag / Patricia Traina | New York Giants on SI
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Not saying DJ is not to be partially to blame for losing which includes the OL, dropped passes, and injuries. But I look to Washington. With new coaches, they turned it around. The thought was drafting Daniels was the reason, but Mariota played most of the game and lit it up. 

PAT, IT IS THE SYSTEM. Last year I thought Kafka's playcalling was not good. I thought Kafka coming from KC would bring a new approach, creativity, and aggressiveness. I thought this year, Daboll calling the plays would turn it around. NOT SO. Kafka was calling plays in Daboll's system, which is not good. The talent is there this year, but the system is lacking. 

IT'S TIME FOR DABOLL TO TURN THE PLAY CALLING BACK TO SOMEONE ELSE WITH A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO CALL PLAYS. If this mess continues, the Giants will look for a new HC at year's end. By the way, my vote goes to Lions OC Ben Johnson, who gets his team to score and WIN! So, for all you DJ haters, there is plenty of blame to go around–he, the OL, dropped passes, but you have to realize the biggest problem is the play calling. 

It needs a new approach. The system is flawed. Another issue is that it's time to take off the kid gloves and play Neal to see if he is the long-term answer or if we need to draft another tackle. At this point, there is nothing more to lose. I know you may not agree, but your thoughts are always a blessing. -- Joe G.

Joe, I'm going to put this as nicely as I can. Give this a rest. Seriously, I don't understand why you're so willing to die on this hill when it comes to Daniel Jones, but these excuses to absolve Jones's role in what has transpired just don't compute.

Tyrod Taylor and Tommy DeVito both were able to move the ball and score in this same system. Shoot, even Daniel Jones found success in it against Cleveland and Seattle. So how flawed can the system be?

The system might not be perfect--no system is. But when your quarterback doesn't trust what he sees, when he double pumps the ball and forces his receivers to stop in stride to catch the ball, when your quarterback can't raise the level of play around him consistently, it's not the system.

We all know where this season is headed. Empty seats in December and another high draft pick. Has the stench from the Gettleman years finally blown away, making everything now and going forward on the current "braintrust?" If so, what does Mara do after another lousy, last-place season? -- Mike G.

Mike, the biggest mistake this team continues to make, which drives me crazy, is that it doesn't go all in when it makes a significant change after down seasons.

By that, I mean, if you're going to swap out the general manager and head coach, you change the quarterback, too. Look at what's happening in Washington and the success that team is having because it swept out everyone and brought in all new faces at the three most important positions in the franchise. 

John Mara has already said he doesn't plan on sweeping out Daboll or Schoen after this season. Give them a chnce to pick their quarterback and see what happens.

Carmen Bricillo, in his last media session, sort of confirmed what I’ve been saying. Neal fell WAY behind in learning the techniques Bricillo and assistant offensive line coach James Ferentz want their guys to run. 

These are techniques that enough o-linemen who were on the team last year have said are vastly different than what Bobby Johnson taught them. 

Neal, remember, struggled with his technique virtually from Day 1 in the NFL and never got into a groove. 

Now you throw in the ankle injury, the setback he had, and yet another round of technique work that varies from what he knew, and you have the situation you have. 

And didn’t you find it interesting that when Brian Daboll was asked about Neal being a possibility at left tackle, he said something to the effect of, “We’ll go with the guys we have”? That to me cinched it, that Neal isn’t ready to play in their eyes.

That all said, with Jermaine Eluemunor now ailing, there's a good chance we might see Neal. If that happens, hoppefully he's up to the challenge.

You can’t do that on every play, Michelle. You start doing that and you might as well take a billboard out in Time Square advertising when you’re going to pass. Plus you’re also removing the tight end as a receiving option.

If I could predict the future, I would have predicted the winning mega millions numbers a long time ago and retired. ;)

I think in this defensive scheme, Okereke is being deployed a bit differently. For instance, you don’t see him blitzing as much as he did last year. 

Per NextGen Stats, Okereke blitzed 22.7% last year. This year, with one exception (Week 3 vs. Cleveland), he hasn’t come close to blitzing at that rate and is blitzing at a 13.4% rate. That’s just a by-product of the scheme Shane Bowen runs.

Per Pro Football Focus, his STOPS are way down—he had 56 last year and only has 18 this year. But overall, he’s not that far off from the team lead in tackles–Okereke has 41, which puts him behind Micah McFadden (42) and safety Tyler Nubin (48) on the defense.

There is an old saying, “Adapt or die.” I think what happened with the Giants is that ownership tried to go back to the well that was the George Young general manager tree and (to an extent) the Bill Parcells/Bill Belichick coaching tree too many times.

They soon found out that as the salary cap and free agency evolved, and as new concepts were introduced, they were falling behind with the times. That’s why I was glad they finally went outside of the organization for the Joe Schoen/Brian Daboll hire 

I also think that John Mara, in lack of patience, did the team more harm than good by firing head coaches every two years.

You cannot keep changing coaches every two years because one staff might have an idea of what they want in a player, and then suddenly, a new staff comes in and has a totally different idea of what they want, and now you have to start over from scratch. 

Bill, I'm told by colleagues who specialize in scouting college football that there are more quality quarterbacks in this class than people are willing to acknowledge. The question is, how many of them have first-round grades? Right now, probably not a whole lot. But that doesn't mean a quarterback from Day 2 can't develop into a long-term starter with the right guidance.

The Giants aren't trading for a quarterback now. Seriously, who out there would be better than Jones at this point? Please don't say anyone because we all know that's an exaggeration. 

I do think the team will sign a veteran in the offseason to potentially serve as a bridge, but it will look to draft the next franchise quarterback.

I think it’s too soon to say. We don’t know where the Giants are going to be drafting just yet, which quarterbacks set to hit free agency will be re-signed by their current clubs, or if any veteran quarterbacks will be released. 

Personally, I think the best course of action is to draft and develop a guy that Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll believe in. But I can’t sit here and say for sure that’s what they’re going to do because of all the unknowns.

There's no way I'd move Bobby Okereke. Why would you even go there and want to create a gaping hole in the middle of the defense?

To your question, I think a lot will depend on what happens these next two games. If the Giants drop both of them, I think it makes sense to look to move guys that aren't interested in the long-term plans and acquire draft capital.

If they split these next two games and you believe they have a chance to beat Carolina, then I think you consider standing pat.

Daboll said he doesn’t plan to bench Banks. Dexter Lawrence and Shane Bowen both said the issue was addressed, so the hope is that the players addressing the issue with Banks fixes the problem. As I wrote here, given the injury situation, the Giants might be unable to sit Banks down for any length of the game. 

I don't know, Gene. Maybe, maybe not.

Using Sam Darnold as an example of letting a QB mature, should the Giants enquire about Zach Wilson of the Broncos? -- Peter M.

I don't understand why people think trading for a quarterback in-season will solve anything. You’d be giving up assets that you could use to draft a quarterback whom you could develop from scratch. That quarterback you trade for not only has to learn a new system but also has to build chemistry with receivers, all of which doesn't happen in a week.

The other thing to consider is that not everyone is cut out to play in the New York market, and I think that applies to Zach Wilson, who, as I recall, struggled with reading NFL defenses. 

From a personal perspective, I would have kept all of them. From a business perspective, I understand why the Giants didn't. I realize that those players have gone on to flourish elsewhere, but as I keep saying, had this team drafted better and retained some of that talent, maybe then it doesn't find itself in the pickle of having to make such choices. 

A lot of things bothered me in that loss to the Eagles besides the loss itself. And I think it’s fair t say that I haven’t always agreed with some of the plays called this season.

Not that I'm aware of.

Tyre Phillips injured his quad in Week 17 of the 2023 season and underwent surgery in January 2024. He might not be fully back from that just yet, not just in terms of his recovery but his strength.

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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