The first three years of Daniel Jones‘ NFL career could generously be described as bumpy. And a man who’s been in Jones’ position, has a reason for that.
Eli Manning, who Jones was drafted to replace as the starting quarterback of the New York Giants, believes that the coaching changes have stunted Jones’ development.
“By my fifth year, I had been in the same offense the whole time, I knew it, I could coach it up, new guys are coming in, I was speaking the same language as my offensive coordinator and as (former head coach Tom) Coughlin, and kind of preaching the same stuff,” Manning said, per Coral Smith of NFL.com. “And with (Jones), it’s all new, and it’s learning, and he’s consistently trying to learn and learn and learn, and it just takes some time before it all sinks in.”
The Giants have been in a near-constant state of flux throughout Jones’ career. In Jones’ rookie season in 2019, Pat Shurmer was New York’s head coach and Mike Shula was the offensive coordinator. Shurmer was fired following the 2019 season. Replacing him was Joe Judge, who brought Jason Garrett in as the offensive coordinator. Those two kept those positions through the 2020 season and into 2021. But after Week 11 in 2021, Garrett was fired as offensive coordinator and replaced by Freddie Kitchens.
Two head coaches and three offensive coordinators in three seasons is not ideal for anyone, especially a young quarterback. Unsurprisingly, the results have been bad. Jones has completed 62.8% of his passes for 8,398 yards with 45 touchdowns, 29 interceptions and an 84.3 passer rating. That’s not the kind of performance you’re looking for from a quarterback who was taken sixth in the draft. And most troubling for the Giants and their fans, his record as a starter is 12-25 and the team’s record is 14-35.
So, might Jones’ third head coach and fourth offensive coordinator be able to salvage his career? It’s hard to say. He’s now on his third head coach in Brian Daboll and fourth offensive coordinator in Mike Kafka. While there’s more instability now, they both have a solid track record.
Daboll was Josh Allen’s offensive coordinator throughout his entire career. Kafka was Patrick Mahomes’ quarterback coach from 2018-2021. So at the very least, he’s got guys working with him who have worked with the best. Manning also said that from what he’s seen, “the atmosphere (with the Giants) has changed.”
Jones has a lot of work to do to salvage his career as a franchise quarterback. But if his new head coach and offensive coordinator can bring stability, he’ll at least be off to a good start.
[NFL.com]
