With an embarrassing 27-13 week 1 loss to the Denver Broncos, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the NY Giants have collectively failed Daniel Jones.
With a fourth-year general manager in Dave Gettleman, a third-year quarterback in Daniel Jones and a second-year head coach in Joe Judge, it was imperative for the NY Giants to get off to a hot start with a winnable home game against the Broncos this past Sunday.
Instead, the Giants fell flat on their face in large part due to a late third quarter fumble by Jones.
When the dust settled, Jones was 22-of-37 for 267 yards, two total touchdowns and a fumble.
If you take out the garbage time drives after the Broncos had all but won the game, Jones was just 14-of-26 with 171 yards and a touchdown … and a fumble.
As underwhelming as Jones has been since the start of last year as the starting QB, the problems that have hindered the team go well beyond him.
It’s easy to point the finger at the player who plays the most important position on the field and has had costly mistakes for all to see, but it’s irresponsible to not acknowledge the systemic issues that have doomed Jones to fail.
Here’s a look at how the NY Giants have failed to build around Daniel Jones, letting the young QB down
The NY Giants Offensive Line
Back when Jones was at Duke, he lost 13-of-19 fumbles in 36 games across three seasons.
That’s a lot of fumbles.
Ball security was not a new issue for him coming into the NFL, and it has persisted.
Over 28 games with the NY Giants, as he’s put 30 balls on the ground, losing 18 of them.
One way to combat Jones’ fumbling issues is to provide him with good protection in the form of an offensive line. In his rookie year, the tackle duo of Nate Solder and Mike Remmers combined to allow the most pressures in the league with 97, with Solder having allowed 57 of them, which was seven more than the next worst player, according to Pro Football Focus.
The following season–Jones’ second of his career–the Giants’ offensive line ranked 31st overall in the league, allowing the most pressures from the left tackle position, and the sixth most pressures from the right tackle position. In two seasons as the starting QB, Jones’ has had the worst protection from the tackle positions in the NFL.
Having Solder as the team’s highest paid offensive lineman come into camp as a backup to a 3rd round pick in Matt Peart, only for Solder to beat him out for the starting right tackle job, is a major organizational failure in more ways than one. On top of that, Andrew Thomas having the worst rookie season among the top four tackles in the draft is another strike on Gettleman’s record.
After fumbling 18 times as a rookie, Jones cut that number down to 11 in his second season despite the quality of play from the offensive line decreasing. Although he still led the league in fumbles, it was an encouraging sign to see a young quarterback improve in that department so drastically with the conditions around him seemingly worse.