“We’re going to put a product on the field that the people of this city and region are going to be proud of because this team will represent this area. We will play fast, we will play downhill, we will play aggressive. We will punch you in the nose for 60 minutes, we will play every play like it has a history and a life of its own, with a relentless, competitive attitude. We will play fundamentally sound, we will not beat ourselves.”
“Now, what this team’s going to look like. I mentioned earlier, I want this team to reflect this area. That is blue collar, it’s hard work, it’s in your face. We’re not going to back down from anybody. We’re going to come to work every day and grind it out the way they do in their jobs every day, and they can invest their money in our program knowing it’s worthwhile. They put a Giants uniform on, they put a Giants hat or jersey on, that it’s not representing just the 53 on the field, but it’s representing their neighborhoods, their communities and their families with the values they have instilled in their children.”
These words from Joe Judge during his introductory presser as Giants head coach back on Jan. 9th, 2020 set the tone for the new direction to which he was going to take the organization. Some could say they sounded Tom Coughlin-like or that this was just classic football coach hobnob, however it became clear very quickly that Judge’s philosophy for his Giants team wasn’t a farce.
The impact on and off the field became apparent as soon as that offseason began. The Giants and Judge crafted a solid core of assistant coaches and coordinators from different walks of the NFL to be the teachers of success for the players. Front office personnel negotiated diligently to recruit and sign some of the best veteran players on both sides of the ball who exuded the Judge philosophy and could get the younger players to buy into the system.
Buy into the system they did.
From training camp onward, the entire team was behind their head coach, his game plan, and his values which they brought to the field every Sunday. Each game had its own set of challenges, and not everyone ended with the desired result, however there was growth, hardnose effort, and things to hang their hats on. In the NFL though, the professional athlete knows that true success means more than having moral victories.
While the Giants found huge strides in their defensive game in year one behind defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, there was much left to be desired on the offensive front. As in recent seasons, the team continued to struggle in developing any sort of offensive consistency and lacked a real offensive threat to put opposing defenses on notice after Saquon Barkley went down with an ACL injury. The offensive line was still a messy work in progress, and it was just one of a few factors that caused second-year quarterback Daniel Jones to become a turnover machine. All of this together led to a disappointing 6-10 record in 2020 and the Giants having to rely on a division rival to decide their final fate in early January.
Now, as Joe Judge and Big Blue prepare to begin their 2021 campaign in just under two weeks, one of those woeful factors from 2020 still looms as a metaphorical question mark. One who must prove, not only for the team’s success but for his own fate, that he can rise to the occasion and be the long-term answer for the New York Giants.
Daniel Jones.
Drafted 6th overall in the 2019 draft, the Giants selected Daniel Jones over a few other talented quarterbacks in the class because they believed in facets of his game to elevate their offense which had begun to stumble with then starter Eli Manning. GM Dave Gettleman praised the Duke product’s legs, especially when under pressure, and his ability to place the ball in receivers’ hands in such a beautiful fashion. The latter of those traits handed Jones the nickname of “Danny Dimes.”
In his second season in blue, Jones took some positive strides towards replicating the promises of his college scouting tape. However, his rookie year demons still lingered at some of the biggest moments of the game.
Playing in 14 games last season, Jones completed 62.5% of his passes for 2,943 yards and 11 touchdowns, however that was met with nearly the same number of interceptions (10). Despite having the prowess to use his legs and quick speed to evade rushing defenders, Jones at times appeared to be lost in the pocket, succumbing to sacks a total of 45 times and losing control of the ball a combined 6 times out of 11 fumbles. The dominance of his predecessor, Eli Manning, to execute 4th quarter game-winning drives also faded away for the offense amid these faults of Jones close to the endzone at the end of close losses.
Sure, it’s partly unfair not to consider the outside factors that inhibited Jones’s ability to succeed and lead the offense to higher production in 2020. Losing Saquon Barkley is always huge when he singlehandedly increases the Giants’ offensive production with his legs alone. Barkley, when healthy, gives Jones that last-second option to dish the ball off to and let his strength and footwork save the play from going nowhere.
Like his predecessor in Manning during his final seasons, Daniel Jones was not protected by the greatest offensive line either. Between COVID opt-outs and injuries to key linemen, the offensive line was left to be a rotating carousel of young players who all weren’t ready for extensive blocking against the league’s best defenders and pass rushers.
Heading into 2021 and his third NFL season—second as the starter for the Giants—however, the ownness needs to be placed on Jones to use the upgraded roster the organization has provided him and his skillset to his advantage and ditch the turnover woes. Yes, some of the other factors aren’t perfectly sound, but Jones is still the biggest storyline for the Giants, and whether they will compete for the NFC East crown this season will heavily depend on him staking his claim as the guy in year three.
In the offseason, the front office put their money where their mouth is for their quarterback, stockpiling the offense with new weapons in receivers Kenny Golladay and rookie draft pick Kedarious Toney and tight end Kyle Rudolph. The offensive line will return with a few players who opted out last season and a few new rotational pieces to give Joe Judge options to work with. While his return status is still partially uncertain, Jones will soon have his workhorse in Saquon Barkley in the backfield again, healthy from an ACL injury.
The defensive side has also improved in depth and talent. Names like Adoree Jackson, Danny Shelton, and Ifeadi Odenigbo joined an already tough, physical defensive front and aggressive, speedy secondary, giving Patrick Graham more weapons to work with in shutting down the game’s best quarterbacks and keeping the Giants within games when their offensive production is low.
Nonetheless, Daniel Jones is eligible for a contract extension after this season and while he has two seasons left on his current contract before he must consider instating a 5th-year option, this season more than the others will be critical for evaluating his selection, growth, and future with the team. It might be hard for the Giants to show Jones the money other young quarterbacks near his age are receiving from teams if he cannot steer the ship towards more than an average of 4-5 wins each season.
Not to scare any Giants fans reading this, but the Giants also carry the Chicago Bears’ first round pick in 2022, meaning if Daniel Jones’ past continues into the present, scouting for a new quarterback could start brewing behind closed doors in East Rutherford. In New York, but in professional football in general, a quarterback doesn’t receive the same amount of time to prove himself as those of previous decades once did. In a league of ‘what have you done for me lately?”, we saw what happened with Sam Darnold and the same could happen for Jones if the clock runs out.
The potential for the New York Giants to win the NFC East division this season is there, as much as that sounds like a broken record thing to say. The roster, particularly the defense, is much more talented than any sportsbook or analyst may predict them to be. Most importantly, anyone who’s watched Jones has seen the short flurries of talent, but now those flurries have to become a full-fletched blizzard. Once the blizzard is unleashed, there is no doubt the Giants will earn more consideration for a playoff contender.
The buck stops with Daniel Jones in 2021, and his future in blue likewise.
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