This season might be the one where the New York Giants decide the verdict on Daniel Jones. Both team ownership and the Giants fanbase is tired of losing, and this season, the Giants have made many additions to help the offense win games.
Those additions also bring more pressure. If Jones doesn’t see a large improvement with added help in the receiving game and a healthy Saquon Barkley, there’s going to be a lot more questions about his job – and that of GM Dave Gettleman.
Pro Football Network, an outlet that isn’t high on Daniel Jones and has previously criticized him, isn’t optimistic when it comes to forecasting his future with the Giants. According to their early mock draft of 2022, the Giants are set to take a quarterback in the top 10.
7. New York Giants: Carson Strong, QB, Nevada
New York’s roster isn’t bad. So if they end up having the seventh overall pick, one has to deduce that Daniel Jones didn’t take a step up in his third NFL season. Ideally, Jones proves himself to be a franchise quarterback. If he doesn’t, the Giants might have a chance to replace him in the coming offseason. Malik Willis and Desmond Ridder both make sense here, but Carson Strong is another QB who needs more respect.
Strong isn’t quite the dual-threat player that Willis and Ridder are, but he’s still fairly athletic for his pocket-passer mold. The Nevada signal-caller has an excellent arm — one that can generate velocity even without maximum hip rotation. His throwing motion is crisp and compact, but at the same time, he’s exceptional at navigating the pocket. Additionally, his situational awareness is stellar for his age.
What are the chances of it happening?
The Giants have been very publicly supportive of the idea that Daniel Jones is their quarterback. Throughout the offseason, there’s been statements of support for Jones from all levels of the organization ranging from the ownership to Joe Judge to the other players.
However, it’s worth looking back a few years to when Eli Manning held the starting job. The Giants also showed plenty of commitment to Manning during his last offseason as a Giant, affirming that he was their starter and that bringing Daniel Jones into the lineup wasn’t in the plans.
But a couple of weeks into the season, when the Giants started off on the wrong foot, the Giants made a surprise change and brought in Jones as the starter. They haven’t looked back since then, despite their initial denials of Jones being the starter.
Could the same thing happen to Jones? It’s not certain, and the organization is showing a lot of support now, but if things go bad next season, we can’t rule out the possibility. Especially if Dave Gettleman, the man that brought Jones in, loses his job.
It’s hard to imagine a new GM joining the front office and keeping Jones around as his starting quarterback, unless Jones sees a big improvement but Gettleman ends up on the chopping block regardless.
So don’t count this one out just yet. Whether or not the Giants go for a quarterback in next year’s draft could very much have something to do with where they finish in 2021 and how Jones plays during the campaign.