3 reasons Daniel Jones will outperform Dak Prescott in 2023

Ever since his arrival in the NFL for the NY Giants, Daniel Jones has had to hear the critics be all over him for what he can't do well. Last year, a major talking point were his struggles in primetime games. Jones was able to silence people thanks to the thrilling win over the Commanders on Sunday Night Football in Week 15.

Another knock on Danny Dimes? Not being able to take down Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys. Jones has just one win against the Cowboys, but since debuting in 2019, Jones has yet to defeat Prescott when he's starting for Dallas. Some wonder if that will ever change for Jones as the Giants starter against Prescott.

But with the 2023 season, the expectations for Jones have changed. With the new $160 million contract signed back in March, the Giants have given everyone the clear message that Jones is their guy moving forward and he will exceed the expectations that the naysayers once had on him. As for Prescott, he continues to fail to live up to the hype, which could be the case again in '23. With that said, here's why we think Jones will have a better campaign than the Dallas leader this season:

3. Daniel Jones is a better rusher than Dak Prescott

The first positive that Jones already has over Prescott is his ability to run with his legs. The 2022 season was a clear indication of how well of a rusher Jones is. In 2022, Jones had 120 carries for 708 yards and seven rushing touchdowns, which was a career high for Jones. Before 2022, Jones' best rushing season was 65 carries for 423 yards and a touchdown.

Prescott, while being a mobile quarterback, hasn't been nearly an effective rusher in most recent years of his career: Prescott had 45 carries for 182 yards and a touchdown in 2022. Granted, he also had Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott to do most of the heavy lifting with the running game.

Yet, Jones had an even better running back in Saquon Barkley to give the ball to, and yet, Jones still had one of his best seasons on the ground with the rushing yards and touchdowns. Even if/when Barkley does return to the Giants in 2023, Jones has still been trusted by Brian Daboll to take off and go when needed.

It seems like Prescott's best rushing seasons were early on in his career with the fresher legs and better mobility, as he doesn't rush for as many yards as he once did. Maybe it's age and again, maybe it's due to the running game. And with Elliott now off the Cowboys, Prescott could be counted on to help with Pollard, but that's a big if. In the end, and with the ground game, expect Jones to continue to shine and outperform Prescott.

2. Daniel Jones will continue to cut down the turnovers

One of Jones' early struggles were his constant turnovers, both with interceptions and fumbling, as both issues made even the supporters of Jones wonder if he would be the long-term guy for the Giants.

In 2022, Jones did a tremendous job working on both, as he had just six fumbles with four lost and five interceptions. A year earlier, Jones had seven interceptions and seven fumbles with two lost. Some thought Jones would be plagued with the issue when he got strip-sacked in Week 1 against the Tennessee Titans, but ultimately, it wasn't an issue that lingered on.

On the flip side, Prescott had a league-leading 15 interceptions with four fumbles and three lost. The year before, Prescott had 10 interceptions and 14 fumbles with seven lost. Jones is trending in the right direction as far as keeping the football and not giving it away, as it was a major problem in his first few years in the league.

His rookie year alone saw him fumble the ball 19 times and losing 16 of them with 12 interceptions. You can credit Daboll and Mike Kafka's coaching with Jones, or perhaps it was them telling Jones to get out of the pocket and take off with the ball as opposed to standing there long enough to get hit and fumble.

Whatever they did with Jones, it worked, and the turnovers were dramatically cut down and turned into rushing yards. Given the old saying, "if it's not broken, don't fix it," this has worked well for Jones and it should continue, as he should turn the ball over less and get more yards with his legs.

1. The Giants offense takes the next step in 2023

We know how good the Cowboys offense has been able to produce and perform with Prescott as the quarterback. But as good as they have been, the 2023 season will finally be the season where Jones will leapfrog Prescott as far as overall quarterback play goes.

The Giants have firmly backed Jones as the guy to lead the offense. WIth Daboll's coaching, Joe Schoen has also given Jones some nice weapons to work with in 2023. Aside from working to bring Jones long-time favorite weapon in Barkley back, who will alone give the Gianta a duel threat in both the run and pass games, the Giants made the trade with the Las Vegas Raiders to land tight end Darren Waller, who will create massive mismatches with his size and speed.

The drafting of Jalin Hyatt will give Jones that bonafide No. 1 threat he's been looking for since arriving in 2019 and potentially that first 1,000-yard receiver since Odell Beckham Jr. left town after 2018. Jones has been questioned for being a dump-off type quarterback, but with the addition of Hyatt, Jones can throw the ball deep to the youngster and let him go get it.

The current Giants offense as is could very well be the best one Jones has had to work with, especially if all of the options are healthy. Sterling Shepard looks healthy from his ACL tear from a year ago, and if he's healthy, he's always been a reliable option to make tough catches. Wan'Dale Robinson was starting to find his groove before he was lost for the 2022 season. Parris Campbell is looking to show he can be impactful after a career marred with injuries with the Indianapolis Colts.

A year ago, Jones played the majority of the season without Shepard and Robinson due to injuries. He also did not have Kadarius Toney, who ended up being traded to the Kansas City Chiefs after a falling out with the team and his inability to stay on the field. And he didn't have Kenny Golladay, who was healthy, but was the shell of his once former self and was getting paid $17 million to pretend to be a No. 1 wide receiver.

Instead, the Giants offense with Jones isn't trying to duct tape the offense to make it work because the top options to throw to aren't available. The Giants offense loaded up on options and weapons for Jones.

With it being his offense to lead, Jones can take that next step and lead the Giants with numbers that his critics and naysyers have been expecting since being drafted. Should Prescott still be productive to help the Cowboys in 2023? Probably. He still has CeeDee Lamb and now Brandin Cooks to throw the ball to.

But Prescott only threw for 23 touchdowns in 2022, so if that is a trend of him going in the wrong direction with the age and turnovers catching up to him, then Jones should surpass him as far as the offensive production goes in 2023 given what Schoen and Daboll have constructed around him.

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