The New York Giants are entering the 2022 NFL season with many question marks surrounding their quarterback. Daniel Jones was a shocking selection with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Since then, his career has been filled with inconsistency and injuries as he enters a pivotal fourth season. This is Jones’s make-or-break year as the team opted not to pick up his fifth-year option, meaning he has this one last season to establish himself as a franchise quarterback. Many fans and analysts are disbelievers in Daniel Jones, but one outlet suggests he is being underrated. Pro Football Focus listed the most underrated player on each NFL team entering this season, and Daniel Jones was their selection for the New York Giants.
Is Daniel Jones the Giants’ most underrated player?
Some might view Pro Football Focus’s opinion of Daniel Jones as a hot take. The Giants quarterback threw 10 touchdown passes in 11 games last season. He missed time with injuries and failed to produce wins. With DJ as a starter, New York went 4-7 in 2021. For his career, the Giants are a miserable 12-25.
Granted, Daniel Jones has been playing with a putrid supporting cast for his entire career. The situation surrounding Daniel has been far from ideal, causing many of the losses in which he participated. He has also thrown only 21 touchdown passes to 17 interceptions over the last two years. But Jones’s failure to produce statistical numbers does not seem to concern PFF.
PFF recognizes that Daniel Jones is no star, but they explain that he “has played better in a bad situation than people give him credit for.” Looking ahead to the 2022 NFL season, PFF views the Giants’ recent roster upgrades as a reason to believe his play will significantly improve. Jones recorded a 71.6 overall PFF grade last season. PFF will not be surprised if they see a “significant bump in Jones’ PFF grade from the 70.0s into the 80.0s.”
The Giants improved the offensive line in front of Daniel Jones significantly this offseason. They also added a couple of extra rotational playmakers into the mix. Jones has flashed potential with solid performances in the past, but the good has outweighed the bad thus far. Under Brian Daboll and Mike Kafka’s new offensive scheme, Daniel Jones could finally let the good outshine the shadows of bad and have a breakout season as the New York Giants quarterback.