{"id":211657,"date":"2025-01-21T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=211657"},"modified":"2025-01-20T18:27:03","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T23:27:03","slug":"giants-2024-position-group-report-card-giants-quarterbacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/01\/21\/giants-2024-position-group-report-card-giants-quarterbacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Giants 2024 Position Group Report Card: Quarterbacks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The New York Giants quarterbacks weren&#8217;t an inspiring bunch going into the season and weren&#8217;t an inspiring bunch during the season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The quarterback position was a major question mark for the Giants heading into 2024. Daniel Jones was appointed the starting job after coming off a torn ACL and 2023 season where he threw two touchdown passes and six interceptions in six games after signing a 4 year, $160 million extension.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The only debatable competition they brought in for the six-year veteran was former Broncos and Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock- who is widely looked at as a backup around the league. They also retained fan-favorite Tommy Devito- who showed promise and won three games in a row in 2023 against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/01\/19\/lessons-learned-from-the-lions-crushing-collapse-to-washington\/\" target=\"_self\">Commanders<\/a>, Patriots, and Packers. Some fans might argue that his three-game win streak helped put the quarterback room in the position it is now. All three quarterbacks, and free-agent signing Tim Boyle, saw significant action this season.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This column is going to grade each player individually, as a positional group, look ahead for 2025, and end with the three best plays of the season. <em>Quarterbacks get all the glory and all the scrutiny, so buckle up for this one Giants&#8217; fans.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Giants 2024 Position Group Report Card: Quarterbacks<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s how the grading system works:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A: Position group played at an elite level, likely with some pro-bowlers, all-pros, and quality depth<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">B: Position group was a positive, pro-bowl alternates and quality depth\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">C: Position group was mostly positive, although no pro bowlers or game changer<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">D: Position group was unplayable at times, very little depth, and negative impact on games<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">F: Position group was mostly unplayable at the NFL level<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>How did the Giants quarterbacks do?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Overall, not great. The eye test, box-score stats, and advanced metrics all point to a quarterback room in desperate need of a change.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Daniel Jones<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Daniel Jones started 10 games, the most out of the group, and finished the season with eight touchdowns, seven interceptions, and 79.4 passer rating. All of which were not far off from his career averages in that sample size, but there were times it felt like Jones was unplayable. Jones averaged just 6.1 yards per attempt and passed up stretch throws against the Cowboys, Steelers, and Bengals that could have changed the outcomes. His lack of willingness to take chances stopped the Giants from possibly winning some games in the early part of the season- a motif that plagued Jones\u2019 big-blue tenure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While he certainly had some fun moments in his two wins: a 236 yard, two-touchdown performance against Cleveland and a 257 yard, two-touchdown outing against Seattle, it was clear Jones lost confidence. Jones&#8217; ceiling was going to be a few good games sprinkled in between stretches of disaster games. The box-score stat splits speak for themselves. Four touchdowns, zero turnovers in two wins; four touchdowns, nine turnovers in eight losses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Overall grade: D, position group was unplayable at times, very little depth, and a negative impact on games.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Tommy Devito<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After the team granted Jones\u2019 release on November 22, they bypassed Drew Lock who had been the number two quarterback the entire season, and went to Tommy Devito. The move caused some scrutiny amongst fans and even Lock himself. The wanted to recreate the Tommy Cutlet magic from 2023 while evaluating a young quarterback for the future.\u00a0 At the time, the team was 2-8 and coach Brian Daboll thought that a significant change was needed.<\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nj.com\/giants\/2024\/11\/heres-why-giants-brian-daboll-picked-tommy-devito-over-drew-lock-as-daniel-jones-replacement.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> He told Darryl Slater of NJ Media that \u201cTommy gave us a spark [in 2023] to not just the offense, but the team.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Did Devito provide a spark?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unfortunately, the Tommy Cutlets magic ran out. In his lone start against the Buccaneers, he went 21 of 31 passes for 189 yards. He didn\u2019t make it through the following week against the Ravens due to a concussion. The Giants lost those games 30-7 and 35-14, respectively.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Devito finished his sophomore season with a 70.45% completion percentage, 5.8 yards per completion, an 85.1 passer rating, and 27.2 QBR.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grade: F, position was mostly unplayable at the NFL level.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Drew Lock<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Giants signed Drew Lock in the offseason to be Daniel Jones&#8217; backup. He spent the 2023 season with the Seattle Seahawks and was part of the infamous Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos trade package in 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>His inconsistent decision-making, lively arm, and scattered moments of greatness make it hard for teams to trust him consistently.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All of which were on display this season with Big Blue. In seven appearances, Lock finished the season with six touchdowns, five interceptions, and a 75.5 passer rating- 29th out of 37 qualified passers. He struggled in key metrics like yards per attempt and his CPOE.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Still, he had the fourth-highest EPA against the Colts in an offensive explosion in week 17.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grade: D<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>BONUS: Tim Boyle<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He only <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">appeared <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in one game this season, but he the former UConn Husky threw rookie Malik Nabers a beautiful back shoulder touchdown in clean-up duty against the Ravens.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grade: N\/A<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>How did the team prepare for the quarterback room?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In July, Giants brass caught scrutiny for publicly trying to find Daniel Jones\u2019 replacement in the inaugural Offseason Hard Knocks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Footage caught General Manager Joe Schoen having trade discussions with Patriots president of football operation Elliot Wolf. It was obvious that the Giants were trying to move up from the sixth pick to the second pick- presumably for Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead, they landed, in Schoen\u2019s words, \u201ca weapon for Daniel\u201d in Malik Nabers. While the LSU product certainly had a memorable rookie season, it wasn\u2019t enough to overcome poor quarterback play and keep the Giants competitive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite inconsistent and times unplayable performances, Daniel Jones never had any real competition during his Giants\u2019 tenure. Schoen\u2019s failure, or reluctance, to bring in a legitimate back up option- whether it be retaining Tyrod Taylor or allowing Russel Wilson to keep for the starting job- was a fool\u2019s errand that casted a storm cloud over the Giants before the season even started.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grade: F<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Who will be the Giants Quarterback in 2025?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">John Mara emphasized a need to overhaul the quarterback room this offseason, saying it\u2019s an \u201cutmost priority.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Certainly an elephant in the room type of comment from the owner because the only quarterback currently under contract is Tommy Devito.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s unlikely that the team makes Devito the unquestioned backup in 2025- if they even retain him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ideally, Schoen and Daboll will want to draft \u201ctheir guy\u201d in April. However, there&#8217;s two quarterback-needy teams ahead of them in what\u2019s considered a weaker draft class. There\u2019s no guarantees they\u2019ll have that opportunity. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Veterans like <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/01\/10\/top-5-justin-fields-team-fits\/\" target=\"_self\">Justin Fields<\/a>, Russel Wilson, Kirk Cousins, or Jameis Winston make sense for short-term options. However, they&#8217;re just stop-gap options with varying degrees of upside.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regardless of who starts for Big Blue next season, it\u2019s imperative that the team gets more efficiency and explosiveness out of their signal caller.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Best Plays of the Season<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Daniel Jones to Malik Nabers in week 3 against the Browns <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BobbySkinner_\/status\/1837917554150428903\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/BobbySkinner_\/status\/1837917554150428903<\/a><\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 Drew Lock to Malik Nabers in week 18 against the Eagles <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Anthony_Rivardo\/status\/1876001536649867543\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/Anthony_Rivardo\/status\/1876001536649867543<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Daniel Jones to Darius Slayton week 5 against the Seahawks\u00a0<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/emarin671\/status\/1843051440144851093\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/emarin671\/status\/1843051440144851093<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Main Image: Eric Hartline &#8211; USA Today Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Giants quarterbacks played a large role in their NFC East worst 3-14 record. From Daniel Jones to Drew Lock, there were more lows than highs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5408,"featured_media":211753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[4688,4069,7300,1173,1608,32122],"class_list":["post-211657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-giants","tag-daniel-jones","tag-drew-lock","tag-new-york-giants-news","tag-nfl-draft","tag-nfl-free-agency","tag-tommy-devito"],"modified_by":"Isaac Zuniga","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5408"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211657"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211759,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211657\/revisions\/211759"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}