The Daniel Jones era in New York has reached its end.
After five and a half seasons of pretending that Jones was their answer at quarterback, the Giants finally cut the cord on their 2019 first-round pick, benching him for the remainder of the season.
Since the Giants have an “out” in Jones’ $160 million contract after this season, his tenure with the team is effectively over.
Jones was selected sixth overall out of Duke in the 2019 NFL draft. After a promising rookie season in which he threw 24 touchdowns in 12 starts, Jones fell off a cliff and never threw more than 15 touchdowns in any of his following seasons.
Jones’ record as a starter is 22-44-1 in the regular season and 1-1 in the postseason.
In 70 games played for the Giants, Jones has completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 14,582 yards, 70 touchdowns, and 47 interceptions with a QB rating of 84.3.
Jones has been sacked 208 times in his career and has a sack percentage of 8.49, which is fourth among active quarterbacks behind Deshaun Watson, Tyrod Taylor, and Russell Wilson.
Where Jones did excel was as a runner. He rushed for 2,179 yards on 399 attempts, a 5.5 yards per carry average with 15 touchdowns and 152 first downs.
Of quarterbacks who have played in 70 or more games since 2019, Jones is third in YPC behind only Lamar Jackson (6.3) and Kyler Murray (6.0).
But for a player who was selected so high in the draft, Jones fell short as a passer. Since 2019, he has placed 29th in yards per completion (6.19), 23rd in touchdowns (70), and 22nd in completion percentage (64.1).
Jones never seemed to rise to the occasion for the Giants, falling short in big moments. He had just seven fourth-quarter comebacks in his 70 games under center and his failures in primetime (1-15) and on other nationally-televised games have been well-documented.
Former Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi, who drafted John Elway, Bernie Kosar, and Eli Manning in his long NFL career, was asked once what he wanted to see in his quarterbacks.
“I evaluate them on third down, what they do in the Red Zone and what they do in the fourth quarter with the game on the line,” he said. “That, to me, is going to be the difference between a get-by good guy who, if you surround him (with talent), you can win with him or somebody who’s going to be great and going take you to championships.”
That first sentence alone sums it up about Jones. He is not proficient in any of those areas. It is no wonder the Giants have such little success with him under center.
The Giants have taken the first step in the right direction at quarterback. Don’t get us wrong. We like Daniel Jones but this is a business, one that is failing, and the Giants have to do what is best for the long term here.
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