New York Giants head coach Joe Judge will have a substantial number of challenges in his first year with the team and his first year as a lead man, but which of those challenges is going to be the biggest?
Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report recently pondered that very same question and settled on the most obvious.
As was the case with Freddie Kitchens and Kliff Kingsbury, New York Giants head coach Joe Judge will be tasked with developing a young quarterback. In his case, it’s former Duke signal-caller Daniel Jones.
Jones showed some promise as a rookie, but he also struggled with turnovers and poor pocket awareness. These are issues Judge and his offensive coordinator—yet to be named—have to address. In addition, Judge and his staff must implement game plans that can play to Jones’ strengths while minimizing the impact of what is a low-tier offensive line.
Judge will also have to better a defense that ranked 30th in points allowed (28.2 per game) so he can take some pressure off his young quarterback.
Yes, Judge faces the challenge of improving on a 4-12 record with a team that is one of the most talent-starved in the NFL. However, the bigger challenge will be developing Jones—and other young core players such as Saquon Barkley and Sterling Shepard—into franchise cornerstones with that same roster.
Some of Jones’ issues have been a bit overblown and the major cause of the problem (poor protection) has been largely ignored when discussing his rookie season specifically, but Knox is not incorrect in that quarterback development is at the forefront in East Rutherford.
The Giants took a chance by letting Pat Shurmur walk after just two seasons because he had been instrumental in developing Jones. In fact, it was one of the few things Shurmur did exceptionally well.
Judge, who doesn’t have that same sort of quarterback experience, is going to have to surround himself with the right guys and lean on them if he wishes to keep Jones’ development on track.
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