After a feel-good 2022 season in which they unexpectedly made the playoffs and upset the Minnesota Vikings there, the New York Giants won just six games last season and missed the playoffs.
The offseason was also painful. Star running back Saquon Barkley, arguably their only bona fide threat on offense, left to join the NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles in free agency, and there were rumors the Giants wanted to move on from quarterback Daniel Jones.
But instead of taking a quarterback, such as J.J. McCarthy or Michael Penix Jr., with the No. 6 pick in April’s draft, they took wide receiver Malik Nabers.
If Nabers reaches his potential, Jones will finally have the type of playmaker at wideout he hasn’t ever really had in the NFL.
But in the end, as wideout Darius Slayton said, if Jones wants to improve his league-wide reputation, he needs to win, especially in the playoffs.
In five pro seasons, Jones has shown little, if any, improvement. His best showing came in 2022 when he threw for 3,205 yards and 15 touchdowns while completing 67.2 percent of his pass attempts. Those simply aren’t the type of numbers that a franchise-level quarterback should be topping out at.
Last season, at Louisiana State University, Nabers caught 89 passes for 1,569 passes and 14 touchdowns. But it should be noted he was playing with a very talented QB in Jayden Daniels, who was taken at No. 2 in this year’s draft by the Washington Commanders.
Jones tore his ACL in Week 8 last year, which ended his season. In his absence, Tommy DeVito, a New Jersey native, briefly played well and led New York to a three-game winning streak, which seemed to make some wonder what the team could do with a full-time signal-caller who would be an upgrade over Jones.
In sports and in life, and especially in the New York City media market, the only way to win is to win. Positive results must be delivered, especially when one recently received a four-year, $160 million contract extension, as Jones did last offseason.
The Giants are a franchise that has won four Super Bowl championships, with their last two coming not too long ago when Eli Manning was under center. If Daniel Jones doesn’t start to deliver the goods soon, perhaps the Giants will actually look to move on from him in earnest.
Some are already disappointed they didn’t do so in this year’s draft.
Want the latest NFL analysis, breaking news, and insider information? Click here. Interested in reading storylines and analysis about the NBA? Check out our partner NBA Analysis Network.
