To many, Daniel Jones has not proven that he can lead the New York Giants to the promised land. His injuries year after year are aggravating and he almost needs the perfect situation to succeed.
With that being said, Jones is the best option at quarterback for the Giants next year. There is not an abundance of options in the quarterback market next year. Some will cost draft picks via trade or the NFL Draft and some of the free-agent quarterbacks are not a big upgrade over Daniel Jones.
Not to mention in all fairness, the Giants have not given Jones that much of a fair shake with his weapons always hurt and no offensive linemen.
Why the New York Giants Should Keep Daniel Jones in 2022
No Upgrades In Free Agency
The top free agent quarterbacks in 2022 are Teddy Bridgewater, Andy Dalton, Nick Foles, Jameis Winston, and others on the market will be available. However, most of those quarterbacks if not all of them are not long-term answers. Bridgewater is a game-manager who is playing at an average level for the Denver Broncos at the moment, much like Dalton for the Chicago Bears. Jameis Winston will be coming off a torn ACL.
One compromise can be made where one of these free agents is brought in to compete with Jones for the starting job next year, assuming the situation is much better. However, if the Giants are looking for a bridge quarterback, why not stick to Jones? He is making $8.3M next year, before his fifth-year option. If they can use him as the bridge quarterback, while allocating any cap space and draft capital to the offensive line and other needs, they are in a good position to draft a quarterback in 2023.
Not to mention, trading for Deshaun Watson and Russell Wilson is out of the question. Both are great quarterbacks, however, the Giants would need to give up a lot of draft capital that they need to allocate to positional needs. The New York Giants are not a quarterback away from winning.
No Sure Answer In The NFL Draft
Many compare the upcoming quarterback draft class to those of 2013 and 2019. Many top analysts anticipate that many teams will wait until after the first ten picks to select one of the quarterbacks coming out. Three names to know in this class are Malik Willis, Kenny Pickett, and Matt Corral.
Willis is a dual-threat quarterback but was unable to beat the top competition at Liberty. Daniel Jones came from a smaller program like Willis and had the same issue. Corral did lead Ole Miss to a 10-2 season, but maybe out of reach for the Giants, knowing that teams like the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions may take him with the first few picks. Trading up for a quarterback would be a bad idea since none of the quarterbacks are sure things in the NFL and the Giants have other needs to assess. With Pickett’s recent uprising in the ACC, he may be reached for in the top five by a quarterback-needy team.
Despite the competition level and success, many are unsure that these quarterbacks will be in the NFL in 5-10 years. A hot prospect to keep tabs on for 2023 is Bryce Young amongst others.
Not Worth The Gamble
Nonetheless, even if the quarterbacks were hot prospects, the situation they’d be put into would be horrendous. An injury-plagued wide receiver core to go along with a half-stable offensive line. Taking a quarterback would mean you are surrendering a pick that could go to either a top edge rusher or a top offensive lineman. Any general manager relying on anyone to start past the third round would be downright oblivious. Drafting a quarterback in this year’s class is not worth the end’s meet. These prospects may not succeed at the next level and the odds would be stacked against them if they were put in Daniel Jones’s shoes.
A Bad Situation
Despite Jones’s shortcomings as a starting quarterback, it has been very hard to evaluate him at times, due to his poor surroundings. Since Dave Gettleman became the Giants general manager, he has only picked two offensive linemen in the first two rounds in four years. Andrew Thomas in 2020 and Will Hernandez in 2018. Hernandez looks like a bust, however, Thomas looks like a long-term security guard for the next quarterback’s blindside.
Signing low-risk/high-reward free agent veterans as well as drafting developmental prospects is not a key to success. Especially when a young quarterback is forced to play behind an offensive line that warrants low expectations.
The 2021 offseason was the only period of time where Dave Gettleman and the Giants front office prioritized weapons. While neglecting the offensive line, the Giants signed Kenny Golladay and Kyle Rudolph, while drafting Kadarius Toney 20th overall.
These signings have all failed miserably. Golladay and Toney are barely on the field as Rudolph has been a non-factor in the Giants red zone offense. Not to mention, Darius Slayton isn’t the same since 2019 and Sterling Shepard misses at least five games each season. Having no ground game with Saquon Barkley also does not put Jones in a position to succeed.
Daniel Jones Will Start in 2022
Overall, Daniel Jones may not be the Giants future quarterback. However, giving him a fair shake and drafting top offensive line talent from the college level will help evaluate Jones on a long-term basis.
Unless the Giants find a good trade package for Jones, drafting another QB is not a good idea. Especially considering drafting a quarterback is incredibly risky with the lackluster talent in this class. Not to mention drafting a quarterback takes away a top draft pick, where the Giants could draft an offensive lineman or an edge rusher.
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