The decision for the New York Giants to spend a top ten pick on Daniel Jones was controversial, but at least to the other players on the team right now, it’s believed to be paying off right now. Jones had a good game in the Giants’ preseason finale, not playing the longest time compared to Alex Tanney or Kyle Lauletta but still completing all four of his passes for a total of 47 yards, and it set to enter the regular season as the top backup behind Eli Manning.
But according to wide receiver Golden Tate, Jones is already a leader in his own right. “He’s a guy who shows up every day and doesn’t say much. But, he’s quietly become a leader,” Tate told NJ Advance Media.
There’s other players who have echoed similar sentiments and it’s easy to wonder whether or not the pressure to start Jones will force the Giants to make a chance midseason at quarterback, if the early season results with Eli Manning at the helm aren’t what the team is looking for.
So far, the Giants have been committed to Manning this offseason, and have stated as much a number of times, but that hasn’t stopped there from being plenty of speculation about the team changing their minds later on. If the team did decide that starting Jones in the middle of the season is the best option, it looks like Jones would already have an existing base of support within the locker room following his preseason performances.
“He saw single-high coverage, saw a matchup that he liked and threw a ball in there. By the time it caught my eye, it was along the sideline where only I could catch it, or no one could catch it. It’s just a glimpse of what’s to come,” Tate added.
Will there be a future connection between Tate and Jones during the second half of the regular season? We’ll see – but if Eli Manning does anything other than come out and win immediately, it’s clear that at this point, after a very good preseason from Daniel Jones, the pressure will be immense to start the rookie.