The Senior Bowl is always an interesting game for scouting college players, and the New York Giants organization can gain some valuable information from it now that it’s concluded. Quarterback, of course, is the position that’s getting the most attention at this point, and some of the top quarterback prospects in the draft were able to show off their skills during the game.
Those players include Daniel Jones, who seemed to raise his stock with a performance that included 115 yards and eight completions on 11 passing attempts. Not bad for a game with relatively limited snaps. Jones split time with Missouri quarterback Drew Lock, as well as NC State’s Ryan Finley, but Jones was the one to come away with the MVP award for the game. Pretty impressive for a player that was sitting under everyone’s radar at the beginning of the college season.
“Just showing the poise and showing kind of a comfort in the offense is something they wanted to see,” said Jones, speaking about the NFL teams that were watching the game and following the buildup to it over the past week. During that week of buildup, other players at the position performed better, making it almost a surprise that Jones was able to take the MVP award.
“At times, I’m not sure I did great with that, to be honest. But here in the game, I think I did get comfortable and I got into a rhythm. Hopefully that showed them something and showed them I had the ability to do that and had the resiliency to do that,” Jones continued.
The Duke quarterback was a three-year starter in college who threw for a total 8,201 yards, and 17 touchdowns. That number of touchdowns is rather low for a player that’s being considered as a first round draft pick, but it’s important to remember that Jones hardly had any help. Duke won four, seven, and eight games in his three years as a starter, and Jones never had the support that a player such as Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray or Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins would get.
Jones might not be the man for the Giants, as there’s better prospects to take at number six overall and there’s been concerns over Jones’ consistency this season, but a good performance in the Senior Bowl is one step in the right direction for winning over reluctant scouts. Time will tell whether or not it means anything in the long run.