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Kurt Warner

Former New York Giants quarterback says Daniel Jones struggled processing information in 2019

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New York Giants, Daniel Jones

When the New York Giants initially drafted Daniel Jones in 2019, the plan was to enable his development behind Eli Manning, while the veteran passer carried out his final campaign in the NFL.

After Manning lost the first two games of the season, former head coach Pat Shurmur didn’t hesitate to swap in Jones, who subsequently won his first two starts, bringing the team to a 2-2 record. While he started his young career strong, the Giants failed to build upon their 2018 season. The defense was stale, young, and unable to lock down opposing teams in the fourth quarter, forcing Jones to sacrifice his body to keep his team in the game.

Despite his success, former quarterback Kurt Warner noticed plenty of negatives regarding Jones’ development and performance in 2019, stating:

“His ability to see the field and process information,” Warner told NJ Advance Media when asked the area Jones must show the most improvement in. “There were a lot of times, it seemed like it was tough for him to see, process information, and react to it. That’s what you see with a lot of young quarterbacks. It’s really hard to practice that. That’s where he needs to make the biggest strides.”

Daniel Jones had his fair share of struggles, but the New York Giants struck gold:

While Warner undoubtedly has a lot more knowledge on the quarterback position than the average Joe, it’s fair to mention Jones’ positive qualities. Adapting to an NFL-style offense requires time, and factor in the injuries to his play-makers, and we can justify his confusion at times.

Playing alongside third-string wide receivers can often cause miscommunications and confusion. Warner did advocate for Jones as a franchise passer, which is all we ever wanted to hear at the end of the day.

“I liked a lot of what Daniel did,” Warner said. “He had a lot of ups and downs. He had some moments where you got really excited, and as much of anything, you hope you see games or moments where you go ‘ahh, I think this guy’s got it, that was definitely the right pick,’ and we definitely saw that with Daniel Jones.”

New York Giants: Dwayne Haskins Performs During On-Field Workouts At The Combine

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On Saturday, the quarterbacks, tight ends, and wide receivers participated in the NFL Combine. Many players helped improve their draft stock by impressing in the on-field workouts.

The quarterbacks got to show off their accuracy and arm strength during the on-field workouts. While the prospects were throwing at the Combine, all eyes were on one quarterback in particular: Dwayne Haskins Jr. from Ohio State University.

Dwayne Haskins Combine Highlights

One thing that scouts and analysts immediately noted for Dwayne Haskins was how quickly the ball zipped out of his hand. He has great arm strength. On top of that, Haskins can make every throw. And he can do it better than every other prospect who threw on Saturday.

To start the on-field throwing drills, the quarterbacks threw slant routes. On these slant routes, Haskins showed off his arm strength. As Daniel Jeremiah noted, you can see the ball jump out of his hand. He completed every pass and put the ball in stride and on the money on every throw during the slants.

During the curl-routes and out-routes drills, Haskins impressed. Dwayne showed great timing anticipation during these drills. His accuracy in the intermediate range was a strength in college, and that seemed no different at the combine.

Dwayne Haskins showed off his deep accuracy on the corner routes. The prospects were struggling with this throw before Haskins took a crack at it. Kurt Warner even said the prospects were completing about 10% of the throws. But once Dwayne Haskins stepped up to throw, that changed. He put every throw right on the money. He had great height on his passes and tremendous accuracy, touch, to go along with perfect timing.

Giants fans everywhere will agree with Daniel Jeremiah: Giants’ super star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. could have corralled the second pass by Haskins. Engram, too. Dwayne Haskins could be the future of the Giants’ franchise come April. The Giants seem to like him.

New York Giants’ offensive coordinator Mike Shula payed extra attention to Dwayne Haskins on Saturday. The team met with Dwayne on Friday night, then continued to scout him on Saturday. According to Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News, Shula spent a lot of time chatting with Haskins on the sideline.

…Giants OC Mike Shula did stand and chat with Dwayne Haskins on the sideline during the early portion of today’s throwing session for about 8-10 minutes. Didn’t see that with anyone else. Shula also put Haskins through his initial throws before the WR portion. – Pat Leonard

Haskins was officially weighed and measured on Friday. He stood tall at 6 foot 3 and three eighths and weighed 231 pounds. It is safe to say Haskins is a big guy. Unfortunately for Dwayne Haskins, he is not a fast big guy. He ran a 5.04 40 yard dash at the Combine. He was the slowest quarterback in his group.

A good thing for Dwayne Haskins is that he is more of a thrower than a runner. His slow 40 time will not affect his draft stock at all because it is not important. Haskins will never be asked to run 40 yards straight down the field. He is a strong-armed accurate passer. He plays his best when he has time in the pocket and can scan the field. Dwayne Haskins is an accurate, pro-style quarterback.

New York Giants Reportedly Planning On Drafting Eli’s Successor In 2019

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New York Giants, Eli Manning

In his post-season press conference, New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman revealed he had a “very honest” conversation with quarterback Eli Manning. The topics discussed in this conversation were never officially revealed as it was private between Manning and Gettleman. However, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post recently reported on what was discussed during that conversation.

According to Schwartz, “The ‘brutally honest’ assessment Gettleman promised will not result in parting with Manning, but it will lead to a high-alert effort to find his successor.”

The Giants’ Plan To Replicate The Chiefs’ And Other Teams’ Successes

Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs took the NFL by storm in 2018. In his second NFL season, his first as a starter, Mahomes threw 50 touchdown passes. Patrick spent his entire 2017 rookie season sitting behind Alex Smith, learning from the veteran, and preparing to take over as a starter in 2018. The Giants are reportedly looking to replicate the Chiefs’ formula and success this year.

The Giants did something similar to this in 2004. After making a draft day trade to acquire Eli Manning, they sat him behind veteran Kurt Warner to start the 2004 NFL season. However, in week 11, the Giants put Warner on the bench and let Manning take over. Manning had a rough 7 games in his rookie season, but he gained valuable experience.

Eli was much more ready to face NFL defenses in his sophomore season. In his second season, Manning finished among the top five quarterbacks in both passing yards and touchdown passes, while leading an offense that finished third in the NFL in scoring with a total of 422 points. It was the most points the Giants scored in a single season since 1963. The Giants won the NFC East with an 11–5 record, and advanced to the postseason as the #4-seed.

Sitting back and learning to begin their first season has proven to be very effective for NFL quarterbacks. In 2018, Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson started the season as the second-string quarterback. However, when each of them got their chance to play, they proved to be the best quarterbacks on the roster. Both quarterbacks would attribute much of their success to the help they received from the other quarterbacks on their rosters. Mayfield and Jackson were not perfect and struggled at times, but they will likely progress in their sophomore seasons.

Eli Manning has never had to mentor a quarterback before. However, in 2019, it seems like he will play a major role in grooming the successor:

Gettleman has not divulged the details of the “great conversation’’ he had with Manning after the season. It appears as if Manning was told of the plan to bring in a youngster to take his job down the road. No one is asking Manning to be a quarterbacks coach, but the Giants need to know their veteran will embrace the newcomer. By all indications, Manning is fine with that scenario, as he realizes too much losing has gone on and he cannot play forever.

Gettleman’s Quarterback Draft Search

Paul Schwartz’s report came with this valuable piece of information: “The search for the next franchise quarterback will be undertaken in the draft, not free agency.” The 2019 free agent class of quarterbacks is nothing special. Nick Foles is not a young quarterback that Eli could groom and Teddy Bridgewater is not looked at as a franchise quarterback due to injury history. However, there are plenty of quarterback options in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Dwayne Haskins out of Ohio State fits Dave Gettleman’s mold. It is early in the draft process, but based on what we know about Gettleman, Haskins is likely to be the Giants’ top-ranked quarterback on their big board. With the 6th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Haskins could be an option. “The Giants have yet to determine if Haskins should be taken that high and will study him relentlessly in the coming weeks, trying to pick apart every aspect of his game and personality.”

Other top quarterback prospects include Kyler Murray, Drew Lock, and Daniel Jones. Kyler Murray is supposedly not an option for Gettleman, due to his lack of size and his inexperience in a pro style system. Lock and Jones have typically not been looked at as top ten quarterbacks by most analysts. However, that could change with the NFL Scouting Combine coming up in March. The Giants will definitely be evaluating and meeting with the top quarterback prospects.