Is New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones a franchise guy or does the team still have an issue at the position that must be addressed?
For anyone who watched Jones in 2019, the answer to that question is a simple one. But in the mind of ESPN’s Todd McShay, he saw something in Jones that no one else did during his rookie campaign, including fellow ESPN expert Mel Kiper Jr.
The two ESPN personalities took the gloves off and went 10 rounds over Jones on Friday evening, with Kiper insisting he’s a franchise quarterback and McShay suggesting he “clearly” isn’t up to snuff.
Listen to the battle for yourself:
Things got heated between McShay and Kiper when it comes to discussing Daniel Jones. Called each other "delusional" pic.twitter.com/pN8WlHwIix
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) February 21, 2020
Kiper: “[The Giants] have a franchise quarterback, so now they just have to build the line up…”
McShay: “According to Mel Kiper.”
Kiper: “… well, according to anybody that watches the Giants except Todd. And you… let’s face it, you didn’t like him coming in, so you’re going to ride this false narrative through his career. Never give the kid credit…”
McShay: “It is honestly one of the most surprising things, and it shouldn’t be because I’ve worked with you for so long now, going on 15 years. It still is so shocking to me, because I thought this was going to be an easy one. Like ‘yeah, it’s his rookie year, but he clearly didn’t play as well as I thought..’”
Kiper: “He played unbelievable! Todd! Todd!”
McShay: “I just assumed that was going to be the narrative and you were going to come crawling back to me saying ‘I hope year two is better.’”
Kiper: “Are you delusional? You’ve got to be dreaming, delusional or drinking something other than your bottle of water.”
McShay: “I honestly think you’re delusional if we watched the same games.”
Kiper: “If we go back and watched every Giant game and saw the throws he made, I’d say ‘what are you looking at?’ You can say the same to me, tell me I don’t know what the hell I’m looking at?’ Because if I’m looking at the Giants week after week with what he had to deal with, with receivers in and out….”
McShay: “We spend plenty of time alone in that green room. I’d love to watch every single throw… let’s get somebody to cut it up.”
Let’s hope McShay and Kiper do break down Jones film and share it publicly, because Giants fans would love to see what the heck McShay is even talking about.
Yes, Jones had some hiccups during his rookie campaign, primarily when it came to ball control, but as it was with Lamar Jackson, that can be corrected with quality coaching and an improved offensive line. So if that’s McShay’s benchmark, then clearly he had a similar opinion of Jackson a year prior. . . Right?
Hopefully the decision-makers at ESPN see the potential in this film session/debate and air it on ESPN2 or ESPN+ in the near future.
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