Just because NY Giants head coach Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka have strong belief in quarterback Daniel Jones leading up to the season, that doesn’t mean that there’s a ton of other people in his corner. Instead, it feels like the majority of folks are calling for this to be Jones’ final year with the G-Men.
It’s hard to argue with the fact that Jones has been a major disappointment for this team in recent years. But, just how bad is he being looked at with Week 1 of the regular season less than two months away? Bleacher Report’s Ian Wharton came out with a list of the worst veteran starting quarterbacks in the league, and he has Jones checking in at No. 5.
NY Giants QB Daniel Jones will be motivated entering the new season
"“There hasn’t been a lot to point toward in favor of Jones becoming an average passer beyond a few flashes,” Wharton wrote on Jones. “His rookie touchdown rate of 5.2 percent helped build optimism he could overcome the negative plays so long as he created more positive plays, like an early-career Carson Wentz or Jameis Winston. But his touchdown rate has plummeted to 2.5 and 2.8 percent over the last two years.The interceptions have also lowered to a more acceptable level, but Jones ranks toward the bottom of all starters with a career 6.6 average yards per completion. One would think his completion rate would be near 70 percent with so many short passes, but instead his three-year average of 62.8 also places him among the bottom third of starters from 2021.”"
Clearly, Wharton hasn’t been impressed with the play of Jones at MetLife Stadium. For those of you wondering, Mitchell Trubisky was No. 4 on this list, while Marcus Mariota was No. 3, Drew Lock is No. 2 and Sam Darnold earned the honor of being mentioned as the worst veteran starting signal-caller in the NFL.
While Wharton makes some great points and it’s tough to defend Jones’ play for the Giants the past two seasons, this is going to be a completely different offense in 2022. The overhaul for the offensive line, of course including taking right tackle Evan Neal No. 7 overall, will be massive for Jones.
On top of that, Saquon Barkley, despite all of the trade rumors, was practicing with some swagger again during minicamp and he looks ready to remind everyone of why NY used a No. 2 overall pick on him. Barkley could be set to have a big year. If that’s the case, it will take plenty of pressure off Jones. Only time will tell how good Jones will be in 2022, but he’ll of course want to prove Wharton wrong with where he’s ranked him.