When Eli Manning was the starting quarterback of the New York Giants, the knock on him was that he “checked down” too often, bypassing the big plays for ones that netted shorter gains.
That’s not entirely a bad thing, but in today’s NFL, the deep ball is still king. Those plays are what gets the fans out of their seats and put points on the scoreboard. They are also usually the primary target of the quarterback coming out of the huddle. Look deep, and if it’s not there, check down to other options.
Daniel Jones, Manning’s successor, is not one to check down and that has turned out to be a blessing for the Giants as he is not very successful at it — yet.
Last year as a rookie, Jones scored a 72.2 grade on his first-read throws as per the analytics website Pro Football Focus. He did not fare so well in checking down or throwing to his secondary receivers. His rating on second-read throws was an unimpressive 48.5.
That puts him in the middle of the pack statistically, but the 23.7 point differential between first and second read success is among the bottom 10 in the league.
What does this mean? Well, for starters it shows a lack of experience. The Giants hope one for two things happen: Jones either improves on his first-read throws considerably to the point where checking down is only done out of necessity, or he improves his game overall and becomes more aware of his secondary options.
Take Jared Goff of the Los Angeles Rams as an example. He is also not adept when it comes to non-first read throws (47.1), but his 90.3 rating on first read throws is fourth-best in the league. The Giants would be thrilled if Jones could take that leap this season.
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