While on Buffalo’s practice squad, Isaiah Hodgins was used to catching passes from guys like Davis Webb, Jake Fromm, and 3 – but he also got to watch Josh Allen, a perennial MVP candidate, do his thing up close and personal.
And as he told Tiki & Tierney during his appearance Friday, the now-Giant said those he was with in Buffalo often compared Big Blue’s Daniel Jones to a “baby Allen.”
“A lot of players used to call DJ Baby Josh Allen, that was kind of like the joke my rookie year,” Hodgins explained. “I definitely see it; the way he can use his legs, which you saw more as the season went on, and how comfortable he was throwing on the run. That opens up the whole offense and makes the defense prepare for a whole different element. Combine that with his arm and his decision making and prep, he’s got a lot of success coming his way.”
The 2022 season was a breakout one for Jones, and once Hodgins got to meet Jones and see him up close in November, he knew it was something that wasn’t a fluke in a contract year.
“I saw right when I got into the building, I came in during the bye week and he was the first person I met, he was just there, him and the facility,” Hodgins said of Jones. “Week-by-week, he was working with the wideouts and linemen and watching more film, and he was in the weight room every day; you don’t see that all the time with NFL quarterbacks, and how confident he was on the field was a function of his preparation.”
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So what did Hodgins see in the huddle?
“He’s calm and collected in the huddle, like a silent dog,” he said of Jones. “He won’t do a lot of talking, but you see him get a 20-yard scramble, come back winded, call a play, throw a dime, and it’s like he just keeps dealing. It motivates you because he never stops, he just keeps going.”
And that’s why Hodgins, and apparently many of his teammates, want to see Danny Dimes back next season.
“I would hope (he’s back); I’m not the GM, but I know a lot of players hope so,” Hodgins said. “He continues to get comfortable in the system – I know there are business decisions that have to be made, but I love him as a player and a person, and I’d love to keep working with him.”
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