How everyone seemingly missed on the Daniel Jones evaluation

When the New York Giants selected Daniel Jones with the sixth-overall pick in the 2019 draft, it was deemed as one of the most controversial draft selections of all-time. Here’s why so many ‘experts’ missed on it.

Draft experts, NFL executives and fans alike mocked Giants General Manager, Dave Gettleman, for selecting Daniel Jones as high as he did in this year’s draft. Pundits everywhere lined up to crucify Gettleman for what was considered a major reach. Fans went as far as to boo Jones at the Giants draft party, where he was asked to throw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium.

Gettleman, Jones and the Giants were the brunt of jokes throughout the sports world. In a moment of honesty, I must confess that I was so angry that the Giants selected Jones over Kentucky’s Josh Allen, that I shut off the draft and took to Twitter to vent my rage. Everywhere you looked, people were calling for Gettleman’s head and proclaiming that the sky was falling on the Giants.

Fast forward to the preseason, where Daniel Jones was nearly perfect game after game. Suddenly, a once bitter Giants fan base slowly began to change their stance on their first pick of the draft, gaining some semblance of hope for the future. After two dismal weeks of regular season play, Giants management decided that it was time to move on from their legendary quarterback, Eli Manning and towards the quarterback of the future, Daniel Jones.

Jones did not disappoint in his first career NFL start. He showed the poise, accuracy, athleticism and leadership that led the Giants brass to select him with the sixth overall pick – and that led Giants fans to clamor for him to take the reins at quarterback. In the end, Jones would finish the day completing 23 of 36 passing attempts for 336 yards and two passing touchdowns, while rushing four times for 28 yards and two touchdowns. Most importantly, he brought the Giants back from an 18 point deficit en route to a win in his first professional start, further stoking the flames of hope among Giants fans.

So how did the experts and talking heads miss so badly in evaluating Jones? Examining his 2018 season at Duke University may hold the keys to answering this. Often times the experts get too caught up in the numbers and fail to dig deeper into the situation at hand. First, Daniel Jones suffered a broken collarbone during his final season at Duke. While he only missed two games, there are many reports that he did not return to full strength during the season, leading to a drop-off in his production.

Perhaps more detrimental to his productivity than his collarbone injury was the supporting cast around him. Duke University is a powerhouse ACC basketball school, but it is not known for its football prowess. Prior to Jones being selected by the Giants in last year’s draft, no Duke players had been drafted since 2015, when Laken Tomlinson and Jamison Crowder were selected in the first and fourth rounds respectively. That gives some indication as to the lack of talent surrounding Jones.

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Let’s compare that to what fellow first round selection and quarterback, Dwayne Haskins, had around him at Ohio State. Last year alone, nine players were drafted out of Ohio State and four others were signed to teams following the draft. Among those players were Haskins, three of his wide receivers, his running back and four of his five offensive linemen. Meanwhile, no Duke players outside of Daniel Jones were selected or signed by an NFL team in 2019.

The lack of talent around Jones led to poor offensive line play, bad route running, dropped passes and an overall lack of athleticism that prevented Duke receivers from getting open for him. A common knock on Daniel Jones prior to the draft, was that he only had a 60.5% completion percentage and that he couldn’t throw the deep ball with consistency. Perhaps, that was due to the lack of offensive weapons surrounding him and not the perceived inabilities of Jones.

Pro Football Focus rated the 2018 Duke football offensive line a dismal 83rd in the nation. The receiving corps at Duke last year was not much better – in the 2018 season alone, Duke receivers dropped 38 passes, good for 9.2% of all passes thrown to them. One might be (rightly) inclined to believe it may have been less on the ability of Jones and more to do with the supporting cast around him.

Examining the scouting reports prior to the draft leaves one to wonder why people mocked the Giants so mercilessly for selecting Jones with the sixth overall pick. The positive critiques of Jones were plentiful, while the knocks against him were few. He was praised for his ability to go through his progressions quickly and effectively, while he was said to have flawless mechanic and make great reads. Experts universally praised his high football intelligence and how mobile he was in the pocket. When it came to his arm, many said he throws a very catchable ball, makes great passes into small throwing lanes while possessing well above average accuracy – the list of positives go on and on.

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In addition, Jones performed admirably and showed great athletic ability at the combine. Amongst quarterbacks, Jones would finish tied for first in the broad jump with a 10’ jump, second in the three cone drill with a time of seven seconds, and third in the vertical jump at 33.5”. The only knocks against him were that he needed to improve upon his timing, that he held the ball too long and that he sometimes threw into coverage when he shouldn’t.

Upon further examination, one wonders if many of those flaws could again be attributed to a poor team around him at Duke. He wasn’t afforded the novelty of having much time to throw, and thus him holding the ball more than a couple of seconds likely led to negative results at Duke. In addition, his receivers likely weren’t able to get separation from the defenders on a regular basis, forcing him to make throws into coverage he shouldn’t have in an effort to make something happen.

We are now seeing what Daniel Jones can do when surrounded by a solid offensive line and some decent offensive weapons. That said, most of what Jones has been able to do has been done without the benefit of many of his top offensive talents. Saquon Barkley did not play in the preseason games to try to keep him healthy for the regular season – the same goes for Evan Engram. Barkley was lost prior to halftime against the Buccaneers due to a high ankle sprain and will not be back for 4-8 weeks as a result.

Sterling Shepard did not play at all during the preseason due to a broken thumb sustained in practice. Golden Tate played in a limited capacity with Jones in the preseason due to a concussion and did not play last week, as he is currently serving a four game suspension to begin the year. In addition, the Giants have not had Corey Coleman, Bennie Fowler, Cody Lattimer, Russell Shepard and Darius Slayton for most or all or the time that Jones has spent under center.

The fact that Jones has found the level of success that he has, despite lacking most of his offensive weapons, leaves Giants fans salivating over what the future may hold for Jones and the Giants once everyone returns. For now, they will have to hope that Jones can continue to make things happen with his feet and with the limited cast of characters that he has around him. If he can continue to improve as he gets experience, and he gets more weapons around him, the sky will be the limit for Jones.

While Danny Dimes would certainly justified to chastise those who mocked his selection, it is more likely that he will continue to be the same humble, even keeled, leader that led the Giants brass to select him sixth in the first place. For that, he deserves the utmost respect.

For having the fortitude to select Jones with the sixth overall pick, Gettleman and the Giants brass deserve a great deal of credit. It appears plausible that they were the smartest guys in a room full of dunces. I will certainly welcome wearing my dunce cap if it means having an elite quarterback at the helm for the Giants for the foreseeable future.

It is beginning to look like that may be what the future holds and Giants fans are excited to say the least.

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