Outmatched in all three phases in a blowout loss to Philadelphia on Sunday, the Giants showed how far they are from championship contention. With another week in the books, the key questions regarding QB Daniel Jones remain unanswered:
Is he The Guy? If he’s not, what are the options to replace him?
Philadelphia held Jones to another pedestrian stat line: 18-for-27 passing for 169 yards, one TD pass and another rushing.
When your defense nearly allows 50 points, it’s tough to put the majority of the blame on the quarterback.
New York is 0-3-1 in its last four games, averaging 20 points. Over that span, Jones has more rushing yards (161) than running back Saquon Barkley (152), whose underwhelming play can be traced to injuries.
Scoring points in bunches is not Jones’ strength. He has led the Giants to at least 30 points only three times since becoming a starter in 2019. Two of those games came during his rookie season, the year he had his best receiving group.
With a 7-5-1 record, New York has played its way out of the range of the top quarterbacks in the 2023 NFL Draft, and no realistic upgrades appear on the free-agent market.
Neither Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady nor Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson will be walking through the doors at 1925 Giants Drive anytime soon. The rest of the upcoming free-agent QBs — Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Jimmy Garoppolo — appears to be on par with Jones.
Seattle’s Geno Smith is an impending free agent, but does anyone really think he’d come back to New York?
Garoppolo may be the lone pending free agent who will find a starting job with a new team next season, but he’s a risk coming off a foot injury. Plus, he hasn’t won a Super Bowl with an elite supporting cast.
Signing Jones to a short-term, team-friendly deal remains the probable outcome for the Giants. This would give New York the flexibility to bring in better wide receivers and improve the offensive line.
Jones was not a draft pick of first-year GM Joe Schoen. But he may give Schoen his best chance to stay competitive for the next several years, head coach Brian Daboll seems to agree.
