Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert are two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, and Daniel Jones is one of the worst. This is not up for debate. The New York Giants already have buyer’s remorse and did everything in their power to trade up for UNC’s Drake Maye in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Giants are stuck with him for at least one more season, but Douglas Clawson of CBS Sports believes there’s one thing Jones does better than both Jackson and Herbert. The NFL analyst recently ranked the most clutch quarterbacks in the league and put Jones directly above the Ravens and Chargers franchise quarterbacks.
CBS Sports: Daniel Jones More Clutch Than Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert
Clawson acknowledges the shock value of this ranking, telling readers to “hear me out” before starting his defense of the ranking. Per the article, Jones has “led the Giants down the field to tie or take the lead on 11 of 25 opportunities (44 percent) in the last two years, a top-10 rate in the NFL.” This data encapsulates the 2022 and 2023 campaigns, and Clawson uses it as gospel despite acknowledging that “his NFL-record five game-winning drives through seven games in 2022 was a fluke.”
Let’s compare this to Justin Herbert. The Chargers quarterback takes plenty of undeserved flack for not winning as many games as his elite counterparts, but a deeper dive shows that he is the victim of atrocious defense and coaching. Herbert’s 42% conversion rate on game-tying or go-ahead drive chances is right in line with Jones as a top mark in the league, and PFWA’s Scott Kacsmar notes that Herbert has already lost six games where he scored a go-ahead touchdown in the 4th quarter. By comparison, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning had just six such losses apiece throughout their storied careers.
Herbert only has one playoff game to his name, a 31-30 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. While Los Angeles blew their early 27-point lead, Herbert had nothing to do with that downfall. Instead, the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of a defense that allowed 31 points on five consecutive drives and a kicker that missed a routine field goal. If it weren’t for Herbert, the Chargers might have gone 0-48 during Brandon Staley’s 48-game tenure as head coach.
Teams who get exactly 5 turnovers average 30 points.
The Chargers scored 30.
Those same defenses with 5 TOs allow just over 14 points.
The Chargers allowed 31.
The defense choked. https://t.co/AAnrgGv6Ap
— Scott Kacsmar (@ScottKacsmar) July 10, 2024
Jones Over the MVP?
Nobody can deny that Lamar Jackson has not played up to his usual standards in the postseason, and that might be enough to put Daniel Jones above the veteran in these rankings. However, even with Jackson’s 2-4 playoff record, this is a hard point to justify. Since 2018, 42 players have thrown at least 15 passes in the postseason. Lamar Jackson and his 0.04 EPA+CPOE composite grade ranks 31st, while Daniel Jones lands at a nearby 27th. The Giants passer narrowly beats out the MVP here, but playoffs are just a small part of the picture. You must win games to make it to the postseason in the first place, and Jackson is remarkably better in this regard.
As Clawson himself notes, “Jackson himself as the third-highest conversion rate on clutch drives (48 percent).” This mark exceeds Jones, even when including his “fluky” hot stretch in 2022. With this much-needed context, it’s hard to justify placing Daniel Jones above Lamar Jackson when their postseason efficiency is so similar.
Main Photo: Robert Deutsch – USA Today Sports
