Once Week 1 gets here, it's going to be the Daniel Jones show for the NY Giants and their offense. Despite general manager Joe Schoen working overtime to try and move up in the NFL Draft, he's sticking with Danny Dimes for at least this season.
During the first episode of Hard Knocks, Schoen was passionately defending Jones and made it clear that he's his guy for '24. At the same time, Schoen also knows how bad the offensive line has been, as he pretty much ripped the unit to shreds while backing his QB. In Schoen's mind, not even Patrick Mahomes could have provided some wins behind the group up front Jones had to work with.
Look at the faces in the room when Giants GM Joe Schoen says "Patrick Mahomes can't f%*king win behind that line" pic.twitter.com/Lrzigz5TLn
— awthentik (@awthentik) July 3, 2024
Joe Schoen knows how awful the NY Giants offensive line was last season
"(Against) Miami we got (expletive) three practice squad guys playing for us. Like, nobody could (expletive) - like you could have Pat Mahomes and he can't (expletive) win behind that. I'm not giving up on him. He's under contract for three more years."Joe Schoen
It's tough to argue with what Schoen had to say. The Giants offensive line as a whole last season was a nightmare, leading to Bobby Johnson being fired as the position coach. The G-Men gave up a league-worst 85 sacks in 2023, which was inexcusable.
Since then, Carmen Bricillo has been hired as the new OL coach and several hosses have been signed, highlighted by the additions of guard Jon Runyan Jr. and guard/tackle Jermaine Eluemunor. From left to right, things should look like: LT Andrew Thomas, LG Eluemunor, C John Michael Schmitz, RG Runyan and RT Evan Neal.
This is finally looking like a formidable starting line and those five guys should make a massive difference for Jones. Schoen isn't ready to give up on Jones, but goodness, the veteran QB has to show us something in '24. Even when healthy last season, he played rough in the six games he was on the field for.
That can't be the case for him this fall and winter. It's a make-or-break year for him, period. Schoen remains a believer in Jones, but that feeling isn't shared by a lot of people. Soon enough, we'll find out if the OL indeed proves to be what has been needed to have him look sharp, or if Jones will once again fall flat on his face.