A lot has been spoken about the New York Giants offensive line already. In particular, the offensive line is frequently brought up after losses as one of the main contributing factors. It’s not without reason. While some of Daniel Jones’ struggles come from decision making or ball security, some of them stem from the simple fact that, like Eli Manning at the end of his career, Jones often doesn’t get much time to throw the ball.
That hypothesis has made the rounds in Giants conversations since Jones came into the league, but most of the time, there’s no solid statistics backing it up. Sure, one could say Jones is sacked more than other quarterbacks. But sacks aren’t always the fault of the offensive line.
Now, however, next gen statistics are telling a more specific story.
Daniel Jones was the most hurried quarterback
Which NFL offensive lines were the best and worst at limiting pressure in 2020?
Using survival analysis, we can estimate the likelihood a QB will be hurried within 3 seconds of a dropback to control for time to throw.
? (L): Top 5 | ? (R): Bottom 5 pic.twitter.com/iyC3ArRzk5
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) June 17, 2021
The Giants offensive line was dead last in the league last year when it came to hurry rate. That’s to say, Daniel Jones (or in the case of a few games, Colt McCoy), was the likeliest quarterback in the league to get hurried on his passes because of the offensive line breaking down and allowing pass rushers through.
This will still be a concern this season as the Giants have focused on upgrading other needed areas instead of the offensive line, but Giants fans can at least take comfort in the fact that last year’s draft pick Andrew Thomas only started coming into his own later in the season and will likely have a better start in 2021 compared to last year.
But with statistics like this one existing, and the Giants returning an offensive line made of last year’s players minus Kevin Zeitler, it’s not all that surprising that some are still skeptical about this one part of the team.