It's hard to believe that we are only a few weeks away from the start of the 2023 regular season in the NFL. And for NY Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, he's looking to build off his solid 2022 season that saw him not only make the postseason and win a playoff game, but it got him a pretty hefty contract of four years and $160 million.
On paper, the Giants should not only be a playoff contender once again in 2023, but they could play even better after general manager Joe Schoen and the Giants front office did a nice job in free agency and in the draft to help get talent around Jones. With that said, here are three reasons we think Danny Dimes will live up to the hype in 2023:
3. Saquon Barkley is back for the 2023 campaign
After months of uncertainly of whether or not Giants running back Saquon Barkley would be on the field for the Giants this season, rest assured Giants fans, the Pro Bowl running back will indeed be on the field for Week 1 after signing a one-year deal to be on the Giants for at least this season. For Jones, this is a big deal.
Whenever the two former first-round picks are on the field together, Jones seems to play a whole lot better than when Barkley is absent. As a matter of fact, in the 19 games that Jones has played without Barkley, he's thrown just 16 touchdowns to 17 interceptions with a quarterback rating of 77.3 and 3,768 yards.
Jones also has a record of 8-11 without the former Nittany Lion as well. Now when the two suit up together, even though the team has gone just 13-21-1, Jones plays a lot more better statistically. He has 44 touchdowns to 17 interceptions in the35 games they've played together with a much better passer rating of 91.4.
Now, I get that the record is not impressive by any means, but when these two play together, Jones still seems to be a lot better when Barkley is in the huddle with the man he likes to call Vanilla Vick. So, as long as Barkley stays healthy this season for Big Blue, I expect big things for Jones under center.