Daniel Jones a Fantasy Football Breakout ?

Daniel Jones surpassed all reasonable expectations as a rookie, and heading into year two he should be firmly on the fantasy football draft radar.

Daniel Jones will be a sophomore and has a lot on his plate heading into the 2020 season. The signal-caller has to learn a new system and doesn’t get a normal training camp to do so with the coronavirus epidemic.

Jones had ups and downs in his rookie year but ended up having several elite games and actually breaking a few rookie passing records in just 12 starts. Jones had four games where he totaled more than 4 touchdowns – with no interceptions – including a 5 touchdown game, an NFL rookie record.

The NY Giants didn’t make many additions in the receiver department, but the offensive line improvements could help make Jones a breakout fantasy star. He has top 10 upside at the position despite a tough schedule. ‘Danny Dimes’ should be drafted as a QB2 but certainly had QB1 upside, especially in Jason Garrett’s offense.

Jones’s highlight games included 336 yards passing, 2 touchdowns passing and 2 touchdowns rushing against the Bucs, 322 yards passing and 4 touchdowns against the Lions, 308 yards, and 4 touchdowns against the Jets and 352 yards and 5 touchdowns against the Redskins.

These weren’t just some of the best fantasy games by a rookie but for all quarterbacks last year in the NFL. Jones has shown to have the upside to put together these types of games. Of course, Jones had some duds mixed in between these monster games including a 3 interception game against the Packers and a 3 interception game against the Patriots.

What has changed for the better heading into year two?

The NY Giants invested heavily in the offensive line in this year’s NFL draft. This should be a major positive in the development of Jones, as his biggest issue was fumbling last season and part of that was being careless, but the main part was the Giants’ shoddy offensive line. Nate Solder was among the league leaders in pressures and hits allowed on his quarterback.

That’s not something you expect from a left tackle with that kind of experience and contract. The Giants added left tackle Andrew Thomas with the fourth pick in the 2020 NFL Draft who is expected to be a long-term starter.

They also added monster developmental tackle Matt Peart and former guard that is transitioning to center, Shane Lemieux, in the draft and Cam Fleming in free agency. Will Hernandez is expected to have a better junior season than he did sophomore and the Giants hope they can still get something out of Nate Solder.

As far as weapons go Big Blue has some lethal options. We all know about Saquon Barkley. who is one of the most dynamic runners in the entire league. He is also a major threat catching passes out of the backfield, which should take plenty of pressure off of Jones.

The wide receiver core is often slept on but is a very solid unit overall. Sterling Shepard, Golden Tate, and Darius Slayton will be a handful for opposing defenses should they be able to stay healthy.

The key for Jones and the NY Giants offense will be uber-talented, but oft-injured Evan Engram. When healthy Engram has the upside to be one of the game’s best tight ends, and he has shown that with his dynamic play when healthy.

Engram only played in 5 games with Jones but he had 2 touchdowns in that span. He also had a 6 catch 113 and a touchdown against the Bucs. Jones will have to learn a new system as Jason Garrett takes over as offensive coordinator. That should be viewed as a positive as Dak Prescott has thrived with Garrett, just as Tony Romo did before him.

The NY Giants’ schedule has some tough matchups in the upcoming season and it also features some favorable matchups. Some of the tougher matchups include the Steelers, Ravens, 49ers and Bears. Some of the favorable matchups include the Cardinals, Redskins, and Bengals.

Daniel Jones has the chance to be a great get on draft day. It’s early and most fantasy football rankings haven’t come out yet, but personally I like Daniel Jones as a top 12 quarterback.

The rest of the NFL world and its fans still don’t seem to respect Jones due to him seemingly being overdraft at the time, so this year could be a perfect time to stock up on skill players and snag Jones later on in the draft.

Jones is clearly behind the top five guys at the position but once we hit the top 8-14 I think his name should start popping up. Guys like Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Matt Ryan, Carson Wentz, and Josh Allen share a similar fantasy upside.