Having the perfect blend of tangible and intangible trades is difficult to find, but the New York Giants might have found it in rookie quarterback Daniel Jones.
Entering the NFL as the 6th overall pick and ranked below several passers including Kyler Murray, Dwayne Haskins, and Drew Lock, there’s reason to believe he was overlooked due to the school he was coming from.
Duke, one of college football’s less talked about teams, produced Jones. He learned from legendary quarterbacks coach David Cutcliffe, the same man who helped refine Eli and Peyton Manning into the Super Bowl-winning passers they eventually became.
The New York Giants drafted another Manning…
Jones has a ton of similar qualities to the two Hall of Fame-caliber quarterbacks, in fact, it’s quite scary how comparable they really are.
The Giants’ top first-round selection not only mimics the Manning mechanics but his mannerisms and media reactions are identical. Being boring and reserved is not a bad thing in the NFL, it’s actually preferred, especially if you’re a quarterback in New York.
However, the intangibles traits aren’t the only impressive ones when it comes to Jones, his athletic ability is equally as impressive. I like to consider him a mobile Eli Manning — both are risk-willing passers that excel in the short-intermediate game. The benefit Jones has and will likely utilize is his mobility and speed.
Running a 4.81 40 yard-dash attests to his overall speed and ability to pick up extra yards with his legs and extend plays. Having that factor will help him tremendously at the NFL level — an ever progressing league that requires quarterbacks to run at times with a lack of offensive line quality present gives Jones an advantage.
I imagine this played a big part in the decision to pass on Haskins and select Jonnes 11 spots earlier. So far, I’ve been impressed at how Jones has looked during mini-camp and OTAs, showing improvement every day since his first. His confidence has been growing which has directly translated to better accuracy and efficiency.
Hopefully, this spills over into the pre-season where he can showcase his abilities in live-action.