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

Giants QB Daniel Jones's ACL injury has initiated this change in his play -- and it's working against him.

Oct 28, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) runs the ball against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

With each passing week, it’s becoming more apparent that quarterback Daniel Jones will never be the quarterback he was in 2022 for the New York Giants, when he led the team to a 9-7-1 record, its first postseason berth since 2016, and its first postseason win since 2011.

While many will argue that Jones got lucky that season and wasn’t that good to begin with, there have been a few changes in his performance alone between seasons that one can point to as being drastically different.

The biggest difference has been Jones’s mobility. While Jones has obviously been cleared to return after suffering a torn ACL last year, his lack of willingness to move around in the pocket when the pressure is coming his way is a growing concern that leaves one to wonder if perhaps he, nearly one year to the day, is still not fully all the way back.

Per Pro Football Focus, Jones is credited with allowing 20 of the 83 pressures against him (18.2%) and six of the 25 sacks he’s absorbed this season. 

The 18.2% is the fourth-highest among quarterbacks who have a minimum of 75 dropbacks when under pressure.

Those numbers are up from 2022 when Jones was responsible for only 16.7% of the 143 pressures he absorbed (11th most among quarterbacks with a minimum of 75 dropbacks under pressure), and 10 of the 44 total sacks.

By not helping his offensive line by moving around in the pocket, Jones has become something of a sitting duck back there to where the more hits he seems to take, the more gun-shy he becomes.

A secondary equally important point is that the Giants appear to be calling for fewer designed runs for their quarterback. Jones has executed 53 designed runs this season, averaging just 3.5 yards per attempt. In 2022, he had 144 designed rushing attempts, averaging 5.6 yards per attempt.

Without that above-average mobility he had prior to his knee injury, Jones has “regressed” from being a new-age quarterback who can rely on his feet just as much, if not more than his arm, to becoming a pocket passer. This is not a strength of his given his lack of feel and hesitation in throwing the ball until he trusts what he sees, something that could be tied into a subconscious fear of making a mistake.

In 2022, the deep ball wasn’t as much of a problem for Jones, who completed 10 of 26 pass attempts of 20+ yards (38.5%) for 359 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. This year, his numbers are trending in the wrong direction, as he’s 7 of 28 (25%) for 231 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.

Assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Mike Kafka was asked if there was some sort of magic formula for a quarterback to be more consistent in throwing with anticipation and hitting receivers in stride, something Jones has struggled to do. 

“From a quarterback standpoint, it's about your feet and the timing of your feet,” he said. “It's about the route depths. We talk about that in the receiver room. So, all that stuff's got to match up. 

“Then the coverage can also dictate that as well. So, we're seeing post-snap coverage and playing split safety defenses. Where does that zone in that defense or that spot in that defense, where is the open area? And then, how does the quarterback time up his feet and the receiver time up his depth to get to that spot to effectively attack that defense?”

Kafka, a former NFL quarterback agreed that many of the elements in the passing game are beyond one player’s control, but that when it comes to the quarterback, getting his feet set as quickly as possible is something that is within the player’s control and something that they work on regularly. 

“ I think that's what we stress,” he said. “I don't think I'd say that's the number one thing. Eyes, snap counts–things that can happen pre-snap can help you understand what's going to happen post-snap. 

“So, you can use all that information to your advantage. Then, the fundamentals of your feet, your eye positioning, who you're looking at, and timing it up with the demeanor of the receiver. It's a lot of things we work at every day, but that happens time over time on any given play.”

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That said, Jones’s biggest issues continue to have nothing to do with his ACL injury. He doesn’t immediately trust what he sees out there, which causes him to be late with his throws. As a result, the receiver often has to stop to catch the ball, which allows a defender to come charging in to limit the yards after the catch.

With the Giants, who this season have 367 yards after the catch, which is 20th in the league, those chunk plays that head coach Brian Daboll seeks don’t have a chance to occur. And to that point, the Giants have 16 plays of 20+ yards (tied for 30th) and only two of 40+ yards.

While Daboll believes Jones gives the team its best chance to win out of the current signal-calling trio (a rather sad statement, all things considered), there is little doubt that the Giants need a lot more out of the position that Jones just can’t seem to give them if this offense is to become what Daboll envisions.

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