New head coach Brian Daboll seems to have a brilliant plan to help get the best out of Daniel Jones, and the New York Giants offense
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Everything the New York Giants have done since former general manager Dave Gettleman retired and former head coach Joe Judge was fired signaled the organization believes quarterback Daniel Jones can be great.
The problem is, prior to newly hired head coach Brian Daboll’s introductory press conference Monday, no one seemed to have any answers on how to resurrect the trajectory of his career as the former No. 6 overall pick enters his fourth season.
Daboll, though, made it clear that the responsibility isn’t his alone to turn Jones’ career around.
“It takes a village to raise ,” Daboll said Monday.
Jones, who suffered a season-ending neck injury in December, passed for 2,428 yards with only 10 touchdowns to seven interceptions. Since being chose in the top-10 picks of the draft, Jones has only led the Giants to a meager 12-25 record.
It would be unfair to underpin all of the New York Giants’ struggles — and Jones‘ — on the young quarterback’s shoulders. After all, Daboll will be Jones’ third head coach and his fourth offensive system since he was chosen out of Duke in 2019.
Unlike Allen, who Daboll was instrumental in selectring alongside Bills general manager Brandon Beane, assistant GM Joe Schoen and head coach Sean McDermott, he now inherts Jones in his fourth season as he begins his first head coaching job.
But, Daboll arrives as head coach, fresh off overseeing Josh Allen’s development, and turning the 2018 first-round quarterback into an MVP candidate. And, Daboll sounds like he has a smart plan for building an offense around his quarterback.
“One of the things that I asked him to do,” Daboll said Monday. “Give me some things you really like in your last three years, or if you did them at Duke, that’s where is going to start. With some foundational pieces that he feels comfortable with.”
Building a system from the ground up around plays and concepts a young quarterback is most comfortable in, is seemingly a brilliant way to play to the quarterback’s strengths. With the weapons the Giants have on offense — Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney, Saquon Barkley, etc., if Daboll success in building a scheme Jones is comfortable in, this could be a rapid offensive turnaround.
Giants owner John Mara said he would be “surprised,” if Jones is not the starting quarterback come September. For the first time in Jones’ career, it seems as though the organization is doing everything it can to create continuity for Jones and help him reach his peak potential.
“The schemes,” Daboll explains. “Are going to be the plays the players are best at. And we have a lot of work to do.”