Many Giants fans were furious with the pick of Daniel Jones with the 6th overall pick in the 2019 draft. Many would have rather drafted Jones with the 17th overall pick, and many just did not want Jones at all.
Jones surely proved them wrong this past season.
Jones had few flaws and showed tremendous upside, but with more obstacles awaiting in 2020, we are going to find out if Daniel Jones can make the jump into year two.
Daniel Jones threw more touchdowns than Tom Brady last year while playing four less games, and showed strong potential to emerge as the franchise quarterback in the coming years. Jones showed precise accuracy, great improvisation, fantastic arm-strength, as well as the ability to scramble out of the pocket. Jones also managed to hold a strong rookie season with a below average offensive line, mediocre receiving core, a banged up running back, and a TE picked up off of waivers. He also was playing under Pat Shurmur’s predictable playbook.
After all the circumstances Jones faced in his first year, you may think Jones can play under anything, but he still had some rookie growing pains. Jones fumbled constantly and had really bad pocket awareness. Both were due in large part to Jones having little to no blindside protection, but Jones still has things he must clean up.
Next year, Jones will also have a slew of more challenges as he will be playing under a new coaching staff and a new playbook. Jones also has a few offensive weapons that still have injury concerns surrounding them.
The offensive line has improved tremendously for the good of Daniel Jones. The Giants added Andrew Thomas, Cam Fleming, Matt Peart, and Shane Lemieux to their line. Three of those players will be rookies, but the Giants should still see a major improvement there.
One thing I believe Jones should be worried about is his receivers. The only receiver that will be 100% reliable over the next few years is Darius Slayton. Golden Tate is not getting any younger, Sterling Shepard is coming off a season in which he sustained two concussions, and Corey Coleman just has not been the player he was supposed to be coming out of college.
Either way, I think the offseason helped Daniel Jones more than hurt him. I don’t think he’ll have a sophomore slump, but think he will make a nice jump in his second year.
Photo credit: Giants Wire
