Former New York Giants quarterback Kerry Collins knows what it takes to get a team to the Super Bowl. He also knows what it’s like to be a young quarterback in the NFL trying to overcome mistakes.
Collins led the Giants to Super Bowl XXXV back in 2000, his third stop in the NFL after several up and down seasons as a struggling former first round draft pick.
The former Penn State star and College Football Hall of Famer can relate to what many of the young quarterbacks in the league now are going through, especially Giants QB Daniel Jones, who displayed promise in his rookie season despite a severe case of fumble-itis.
“I’ve watched a good bit of him, and I look at it this way: The guy is intelligent,” Collins told NJ Advance Media. “He’s accurate. His decision-making for a rookie, I thought, was pretty good. I really like what I’ve seen out of him. I think the upside for that guy is big.”
But Jones’ positives were nearly negated by the negatives. He lost 11 fumbles and tossed 12 interceptions. Collins says that’s par for the course and certainly correctable.
“Every rookie is going to have some stinkers, right?” Collins said. “It just happens. He’s shown competitiveness. His ability to run is something I didn’t know he had… I think you’ll see a lot of improvement with him. Really, it’s just eliminating the bottom 10-15 percent of things — the turnovers and that sort of thing — that can cost you games.”
Collins also mentioned the fact that improving the game situations, such as avoiding long second and third down yardage ones, will go a long way in improving Jones’ game.
“Get to second-and-5, second-and-6. You’ve got the whole playbook then. But if you’re second-and-10, then all of a sudden, you’re behind the chains. It does take a lot of discipline. But once you start to see the benefits of being smarter with the ball and taking what the defense gives you, that’s when you really start to see progress,” Collins said.
The former 17-year NFL vet also stated that Jones must try to avoid forcing things that aren’t there and thing what the defense is giving him. In short, checking down.
“You call plays and design them to maximize the most out of every play — and sometimes, what you’re calling the play for down the field just isn’t there. Instead of forcing something in there, take your check down,” Collins added.