The way some people go on about Daniel Jones you would think Joe Pisarcik came back to QB the Giants. In my opinion Jones is a slightly below average quarterback. Going into 2024 some teams have much worse. I would put Jones at about 20th among current forecast starting 2024 quarterbacks as listed on ourlads.com.
Looking at his whole career there is some nice things to like about Jones. Since 2019 (unless noted) among 2024 starting quarterbacks Daniel Jones is top
1. 47% Deep Ball by passer rating
2. 19% Run ability (all time active) – see query below
3. 66% on 3rd down conversions percentage
4. 56% on goal to go on touchdown percentage
For combined seasons, played QB, active, in the regular season, requiring
Yds/Rushing Att >= 5 and
Adj Yds/Pass Att >= 6 and
Rush Success Rate >= 50.0 and
Pass Completion % >= 60 and
Pass Success Rate >= 40.0 and
Passing Yds/Game >= 200, sorted by descending Passer Rating.
Last year Jones had the 6th best QBR in the league. He had the top interception %. That interception % improved each of his years. As did his fumbles. To me that shows someone that can focus on a deficiency and improve and that he takes to coaching.
Lets look at Jones’ career and how he ranks among current forecast 2024 starting quarterbacks in the following three statistics
- passer rating on deep ball throws – 15th ,
- 3rd down conversions – 21st, and
- TD % with goal to go – 18th.
Daniel Jones overall rank comes out to 20th. The following twelve forecast starters ranked below Jones
Baker Mayfield, Anthony Richardson, Sam Howell, Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence, Kyler Murray, Bailey Zappe, Mason Rudolph, Aidan O’Connell, Will Levis, Bryce Young and Taylor Heinicke.
If you went solely by passer rating over the career Jones would be at 25th among the 2004 starters.
Comparing Jones to his predecessor, Eli Manning, this is how Eli’s firsts five years ranked against his starting quarterback peers for the 2008 season (his fifth year).
- passer rating on deep ball throws – 25th ,
- 3rd down conversions – 25th, and
- TD % with goal to go – 13th.
Eli’s overall rank among his 2008 quarterback peers was 24th. If you go solely by passer rating Manning would be 24th among 2008 starting quarterbacks.
If you want to see what they could be lets look at their best year alone in the first five years. Looking at their best year only Eli’s would be 2008 and he ranked
- passer rating on deep ball throws – 18th ,
- 3rd down conversions – 13th, and
- TD % with goal to go – 6th.
for an overall rank of 10th among his peer starters. By overall passer rating alone he would be at 13th.
Daniel Jones’ best year was 2022 and he ranked
- passer rating on deep ball throws – 22nd ,
- 3rd down conversions – 23rd, and
- TD % with goal to go – 2nd
for an overall rank of 12th among his peers .By overall passer rating alone he ranked 13th.
The overall comparison of Jones to Eli is very similar. They both in their first five years ranked as a slightly below average quarterback with the good year projecting the possibility of being in the top third among starting quarterbacks. Of course we need to address the fact that Eli won a Super Bowl in that starting timeframe.
The Giants 2007 Super bowl team had 16 players with a ProFootballReference AV value of 7 or better. AV (Approximate Value) is their attempt to attach a single number to every player-season since 1960.
| Player | AV |
| Osi Umenyiora | 12 |
| Plaxico Burress | 10 |
| Eli Manning | 10 |
| Brandon Jacobs | 9 |
| Kawika Mitchell | 9 |
| David Diehl | 8 |
| Kareem McKenzie | 8 |
| Shaun O’Hara | 8 |
| Antonio Pierce | 8 |
| Rich Seubert | 8 |
| Chris Snee | 8 |
| Michael Strahan | 8 |
| Barry Cofield | 7 |
| Sam Madison | 7 |
| Fred Robbins | 7 |
| Amani Toomer | 7 |
The Giants 2022 team had six players with AV of 7 or better.
| Player | AV |
| Daniel Jones | 15 |
| Dexter Lawrence | 13 |
| Andrew Thomas | 12 |
| Saquon Barkley | 11 |
| Darius Slayton | 7 |
| Kayvon Thibodeaux | 7 |
The 2023 Super Bowl contestant 49ers had 16 players and the Chiefs had 14 players with AV of 7+. That is why I would not want to give up draft picks to move up for a quarterback. The Giants need more better players. Yes they should draft a quarterback but not sell out a team in need of additional talent to do so.
Jones strong point has been his mobility. Will that be affected by the injury? Kyler Murray has come back and appears to be okay. Some discount Jones’ toughness and work ethic as if that was all he had. These are strong character traits that increase his value and given what they are I would not rule out that he comes back from the injury early and in good form.
