Viewed in a vacuum, it's no contest. If you juxtaposed the draft days for Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones, you'd think Darnold was not only the more prized prospect, but that Jones was just a bust in the making.
But while both Top 10 picks have been good, the expectations have almost been inverted. Darnold has thrashed through two injury-addled seasons - compiling an 11-15 record while completing 59.9 percent of his passes – while flashing great talent at times and the solemn confusion of a rookie at others. Indeed, Darnold said, while inexplicably miked against the Patriots, that he was seeing ghosts. Not the best optics for your muscular first-round quarterback, but yet he has also led four comebacks and three game-winning drives.
Still, if you took a jeweler's eye to both Big Apple quarterbacks - one derided for being drafted here, the other delighted to be here - you're starting to like Jones more by the day. Yours truly was among the gaggle hoisting symbolic torches, protesting the pick out of Duke.
Yet the instant you saw him take the field against Tampa Bay, in his first live NFL action, there was something different about Daniel Jones, who led the G-Men back in the second half to stun the Buccaneers. His mobility, pocket presence, footwork, and seeming allergy to choking has already made us forget the scorn we felt on that draft day. Jones evened out the 0-2 Giants to 2-2, drawing preteen applause. While Big Blue stunk it up the rest of the way, finishing 4-12, there were myriad reasons for that, and few landed on the quarterback.
Maybe the Giants were still slightly shaken last year after booting their most gifted player, Odell Beckham Jr., to the Browns. Surely you've wondered what it would have been like to see Jones dance out of the pocket while Beckham dashed down the sideline, watching Jones launch a ball in his direction. But a quarterback's best friend isn't an electric, eclectic wideout like Beckham; it's a rugged rushing attack, which the Giants should have covered with the obscenely talented, intelligent, and pliable Saquon Barkley, the fantasy football darling who may already be the best running back in the NFL.
The only tire-sized hole in Jones' game is fumbles, as he lapped the league with a dozen last year. But as he asserted during Boomer & Gio on Wednesday morning, it doesn't take astrophysics to fix. He said he will keep his left hand on the ball until he's ready to throw, among other nuances. You can dig his Duke intelligence when he speaks, his humility when he muses over his impressive rookie season, and his hunger to improve.
Jones has the right to brag a bit, should he want. Despite Big Blue's 3-9 record with him under center, Jones had, by any account, a breakout rookie season, completing 62 percent of his passes for 3,027 yards, 24 touchdowns, and just 12 interceptions. He bonded magically with speedy rookie wideout Darius Slayton, and should have wildly talented tight end Evan Engram at his flank. Plus, the Giants have made robust investments in their offensive line.
Giants fans have every right to expect Jones to lead a charge to better days than the paltry numbers they posted last year. Big Blue was 18th in points per game (21.3), 18th in passing yards per game (233.2), 19th in rushing yards per game (105.3), 19th in third-down conversions (37.3 percent), and 25th in first downs (311). But Jones already looked good in his maiden season, so you don't have to wait for that sacred, third-year epiphany that the better NFL QBs often enjoy.
Not to mention, Big Blue is just more stable than Gang Green. The Giants are historically versed in turning these tankers around. There's almost always unity from the owner down to the 53rd player. Conversely, the Jets always seem to suffer some disharmony – bickering between front office and coaches, or coaches scrapping with players. Case in point was the Jets shipping their best safety in team history, Jamal Adams, to Seattle, for a few draft picks that won't add up to Jamal Adams, and then coach Adam Gase getting into it with Le’Veon Bell.
But the game is run by the quarterback, and the Giants seem to have a winner, someone with the talent and temerity to get Big Blue back on the playoff board. Maybe not this year, with a rookie coach and a pandemic ravaging roster, but Daniel Jones, despite our grousing and disgust, is the real item. And he's about two or three dazzling performances from leapfrogging Sam Darnold as the Big Apple's best quarterback.
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