It’s debatable which past player New York Giants QB Daniel Jones is comparable to at this point in his career. It’s still pretty early and there’s still room for Jones’ career to go up or down – either as the future leader of the Giants or as an afternote that will eventually be replaced. However, one of the players to sign with the Giants during this free agency period is confident that big things are coming for Jones.
Specifically, Kyle Rudolph has given Jones a comparison to Andrew Luck while speaking with the Pat McAfee Show. Obviously, that’s high praise. Luck and Jones were both high draft picks, but Luck would manage to go down as one of the best young quarterbacks ever before his early retirement. Jones still has some time to turn it around and reach those heights – but it will be an uphill battle.
What did Rudolph have to say?
“He’s a stud and then you watch him over the last two years and – you said it – he’s got all the intangibles to be an Andrew Luck-type quarterback. Hopefully we put a bunch of pieces around him and we can take some of the pressure off of him, let him just go out there and play with confidence and let all those attributes and abilities take over,” Rudolph said about Jones.
It’s a bold prediction for Jones to reach Luck’s level of play, but at the very least, the Giants are adding weapons this offseason for Jones and may improve the offensive line in the draft. One obvious parallel between Jones and Luck is the bad blocking through their careers, even if that wasn’t what Rudolph was getting at.
And if the Giants want to win down the line, they’ll likely have to address that similarity at one point or another. We’ve already seen from Jones’ injury problems last year, after all, what happens when a team can’t protect their playmaker.
Some will immediately roll their eyes at Rudolph’s comparison, but it just goes to show how the Giants and some others around the league still think highly of Jones – and how big the expectations are on him going into year number three.