Another tough loss for the Giants. They played a close game and looked like they may pull off the victory. The Giants now are one of three teams that have yet to win a game and stand at 0-5.The other two are the Jets and the Falcons.
Since the 1970 NFL merger there have been 101 teams to start the season 0-5. None of them made the playoffs. The best finish for them was 8-8 which five teams reached. Since the merger the teams with the most 0-5 starts are the Bengals with ten, Buccaneers with eight and the Giants with six. In the last decade of seasons only the Browns and the Giants have three seasons with 0-5 starts. However the Giants have a Super Bowl win in 2011. That compensates for a handful of
I still believe in Daniel Jones. Among active quarterbacks he still stands at ninth in passing touchdowns for their first seventeen career starts. He stands at sixth in rushing yards per attempt. He has a strong work ethic and is a tough fearless quarterback. From when he was drafted to now in a lot of ways he reminds me of Eli Manning. which is a good thing. Jones had a good mentor.
Jones thru 17 career starts still compares favorably to both the Manning brothers career starts. He is very comparable to Peyton Manning who had one more turnover than Daniel. Peyton had only one more win than Daniel. Daniel had only two less touchdowns than Peyton.
| Rk | Player | From | To | Tm | G | W | L | W-L% | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Rate | Sk | Yds | Y/A | AY/A | Att | Yds | Y/A | TD | Fmb | FL | FR | TO |
| 65 | Daniel Jones | 2019 | 2020 | NYG | 17 | 3 | 14 | 0.176 | 392 | 637 | 61.54 | 4121 | 26 | 17 | 82.8 | 54 | 389 | 6.47 | 6.08 | 64 | 404 | 6.31 | 2 | 21 | 13 | 4 | 30 |
| 147 | Peyton Manning | 1998 | 1999 | CLT | 17 | 4 | 13 | 0.235 | 347 | 608 | 57.07 | 4023 | 28 | 30 | 72 | 22 | 109 | 6.62 | 5.32 | 18 | 59 | 3.28 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 31 |
| 149 | Eli Manning | 2004 | 2005 | NYG | 17 | 8 | 9 | 0.471 | 265 | 520 | 50.96 | 3297 | 24 | 18 | 71.9 | 31 | 202 | 6.34 | 5.71 | 23 | 84 | 3.65 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 19 |
In other statistics Daniel leads both Manning brothers in completion percentage, passing yards, quarterback rating, passing yards per attempt, rushing yards, rushing yards per attempt and rushing touchdowns.
In terms of records Daniel has set the following NFL records
- Most passing touchdowns in a single game by a rookie quarterback: 5 (December 22, 2019 vs. Washington Redskins) (tied with Ray Buivid, Matthew Stafford, Jameis Winston, and Deshaun Watson)
- First rookie to have three games with four touchdown passes and no interceptions.
In Giants records he holds
- Most Games started (rookie season): 12 (2019)
- Most Completions (rookie season): 284 (2019)
- Highest Completion Percentage (rookie season): 61.8% (2019)
- Most Passing Yards (rookie season): 3,027 (2019)
- Most Passing TDs (rookie season): 24 (2019)
- Most Passer Rating (rookie season): 87.7 (2019)
- Most Pass Yds/Game (rookie season): 232.8 (2019)
- Most 4th Quarter Comebacks (rookie season): 1 (2019) (tied with 6 other players)
- Most Game Winning Drives (rookie season): 2 (2019)
Comparing a player to great quarterbacks that started badly does not imply the new guy will finish like the great ones. However Jones’s records, his rank in passing touchdown and rushing yards per attempt, his fearless competitive nature and great work ethic all point in the right direction. Eli and Peyton started poorly. There may have been fans questioning if they were the right pick. Daniel has earned the benefit of the doubt.
Daniel should not be the focus or even in the conversation of how to improve this team. The Giants needs are at wide receiver, offensive line and pass rush.This team lacks elite players across the board.
ESPN had an article of Pro Football Focus analysis of Conference Championship teams Teams that found that on average 40% of those rosters were composed of good to elite players. At the time of the study the Giants had only Odell Beckham as an elite player and 24% of the roster in the good to elite category. They took the 40% out of an average qualifying roster of 33 players. So roughly you needed 13-14 good to elite players. I would say the Giants have one elite player and ten good players.
| Player | Notes | Designation |
| Saquon Barkley | 2018 AP Rookie of the Year | Elite |
| Daniel Jones | 15th in Rookie Passing Touchdowns | Good |
| Sterling Shepard | 2016 NFL All Rookie Team | Good |
| Evan Engram | 2017 NFL All Rookie Team | Good |
| Dalvin Tomlinson | 2017 NFL All Rookie Team 2020 8th in Tackles For Loss |
Good |
| Darius Slayton | 2019 8th in Receiving Touchdowns | Good |
| James Bradberry | 2020 1st in Passes Defended | Good |
| Blake Martinez | 2020 3rd in Solo Tackles | Good |
| Lorenzo Carter | 1 of 22 edge rushers in year 1-3 ¹ | Good |
| Leonard Williams | 1 of 22 defensive linemen in 2019-2020 ² | Good |
| Dexter Lawrence | 2019 All Rookie Team | Good |
¹ Sacks >= 9 and QB Hits >= 27 and Tackles Solo >= 66 and Tackles For Loss >= 15
² Tackles For Loss >= 6 and QB Hits >= 20 and Tackles Solo >= 32 and Sacks >= 2
Going by the ESPN/PFF analysis the Giants need 2 to 3 more good to elite players. Those players would best be allocated to the offensive line, wide receiver and edge rusher. Some 2021 draft prospects are listed here with reports from thedraftnetwork.com and PFF.
OT Penei Sewell, Oregon
In the run game, Sewell is tenacious and comes off the ball hard as a drive blocker — showing great success in creating lanes for his back. He is tough, strong and competitive and it is reasonable to consider that he has only scratched the surface of his potential.
WR Ja’Marr Chase, LSU
At only 19 years old, Chase hauled in eight more deep receptions (24) than any other wide receiver in college football. An alpha in everything he does on the football field.
EDGE Gregory Rousseau, Miami (FL)
Rousseau flashed unteachable, high-level traits in his lone season of college football. He racked up 16 sacks and an 80.7 pass-rushing grade as a redshirt freshman in 2019.
LB Micah Parsons, Penn State
The 2021 draft class has multiple prospects who legitimately deserve the generational tag, and Parsons is one of them. He put up the second-highest single-season run-defense grade we’ve ever seen from a linebacker as a sophomore (94.8).
Nothing is off the boards. We need to see how Daniel Jones plays for the rest of the season. I like the idea of building the core team around Jones in the draft. Chasing the elusive best quarterback is not a guarantee. The Cardinals and Dolphins have done so, tossing aside Josh Rosen. The Cardinals gave up picking Nick Bosa for Murray. It remains to be seen if their teams are better for chasing the quarterback, Depending on the next 12 games Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields could be in the mix for the Giants. However OT Penei Sewell and LB Micah Parsons have been called generational talent. The two quarterbacks and WR Ja’Marr Chase may also be in the realm. Even at the end of the season we may only have a idea that Jones is a franchise quarterback. He would have 29 starts by then. At 17 starts Jones’ current quarterback rating is still better than Peyton Manning or Eli Manning’s was at 29 starts.
The NFC East is historically awful this season. Given that five teams that started the season 0-5 have made 8-8, that may actually win the division the way it is going. Don’t give up hope. Root for the wins.The Giants are favored this weekend against Washington. The Eagles have a tough game against the Ravens. Dallas without Dak Prescott will face the Cardinals. That could go either way. This coming weekend looks like another that the Giants could pull within a game of first in the division. Lets see how the team looks at the end of the season before being so concerned about the draft.
