The New York Giants selection of Daniel Jones was the most controversial of the 2019 NFL Draft, but it may just have been the right move.
No teams off-season moves have been more scrutinized than those made by New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman.
The Giants kicked off the 2019 off-season at the NFL combine where Gettleman said he would not trade star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. by saying “We didn’t sign Odell to trade him.”
However, a few weeks after that statement and less than a year after signing Beckham to a five year 95 million dollar extension Gettleman shipped the wideout off to Cleveland.
The Beckham trade was followed by a questioning signing of veteran wideout Golden Tate and a flurry of seemingly safe moves.
The Giants entered the 2019 NFL Draft with 12 picks entering including two in the first round. It seemed the Giants were set to rebuild their roster while still drafting win-now players.
Most speculated the team would use their sixth overall selection on a defensive talent and then potentially select a quarterback with their second first rounder at 17th overall.
Thus, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected LSU linebacker Devin White and leaving Kentucky edge rusher Josh Allen and Houston defensive lineman Ed Oliver on the board, it seemed like a no brainer for New York.
Instead, Gettelman and the Giants front office shocked the football world by selecting quarterback Daniel Jones from Duke.
Though Gettelman would add defensive talent in Dexter Lawerence with the 17th pick and by trading back into the first round to take Georgia corner DeAndre Baker at 30th overall the Giants fan base was left stunned and in disgust.
Gettelman insisted the team would win while building and instead of taking an Allen or Oliver that could’ve helped the team win games in 2019 he chose a quarterback that may not see the field at all next season.
In addition to the pick not being the much needed defensive presence, the football world also questioned whether or not the Giants took the best quarterback available.
With Kyler Murray the only quarterback off the board when the Giants took the clock they had their choice of any other quarterback in the entire draft class. Dwayne Haskins, Drew Lock, and Will Grier were on the board but Jones was their guy.
Jones played three seasons for the Blue Devils under David Cutcliffe, the same coach who groomed both Peyton and Eli Manning in their college days.
In those three years at Duke Jones combined to pass for 8,201 yards with 52 touchdown passes and 29 interceptions.
He finished his college carer with a 2018 season that saw him throw for 2,674 yards with a career-high 22 touchdown passes. He also posted his best single-season quarterback rating at 131.7.
These numbers aren’t bad but one key stat jumped out as alarming to Giants fans. That being Jones’ carer completion percentage of just 59.9.
However, when watching film and looking at some advanced statistics it’s clear these numbers do not show the full story behind the Duke signal caller. In fact, Dave Gettelman may have just gotten this pick correct.
A key reason why Jones was the Giants selection according to Gettelman was his ability to overcome adversity. Though it seems cliche Gettelman isn’t wrong. Jones had to overcome several obstacles on his way to the NFL.
Jones wasn’t heavily recruited out of high school which eventually led him to Duke a school known for its outstanding academics and basketball but poor football.
After a redshirt season, Jones finally got on the field but had to deal with a struggling supporting cast.
It is hard to find a team that dropped more passes in 2018 than the Duke Blue Devils. Jones finished the season with a 60.5 completion percentage; however, 33 of his passes were dropped by his wide receivers. If those balls were caught, he would have posted a 68.9 completion percentage which would have landed him in the top 10 of all college quarterbacks.
Here’s one of several examples of an accurate throw by Jones dropped by one of his receivers.
Great example of the lack of talent that surrounded Daniel Jones. He stayed in there under pressure, took the hit and delivered a catchable ball downfield. People rely on stats too often and don’t take into account what Jones was forced to deal with at Duke. pic.twitter.com/bCOiP8Ibqk
— Big Apple Sports Podcast (@BigApplePod) April 27, 2019
He also had to overcome having little time to throw. In his three-seasons at Duke Jones was sacked an average of 2.83 times per game. Thus, in order to succeed Jones had to learn how to throw under pressure effectively.
Jones did just that as one aspect of his game that had several scouts impressed was his ability to deliver the ball accurately under pressure.
Here’s an example of just that.
Pressure coming off his blind side.
Takes the huge hitDelivers a 38yd strike on target 🎯👀
But Daniel Jones has a weak arm
☕️🐸 #GiantsPride#NYG#GiantsChat pic.twitter.com/CqdWrdBuj2— 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗭𝗼𝗻𝗲 (@TheBlueZonee) May 6, 2019
What perhaps is most impressive about Jones’ college carer was that despite a mediocre supporting cast he found ways to help his team win games.
Jones was the MVP of two bowl games in his time at Duke as he helped the program win two bowl games. This may not seem too significant, but by winning those two games, Jones one a third of the program’s all-time bowl titles as the team has won just six bowl championships it’s program history.
In the 2018 Independence Bowl against Temple Jones put together an outstanding performance. He threw for 423 yards with five touchdown passes and also added a touchdown on the ground.
There’s no doubting that in the big moments, Jones stepped up, under pressure he often gave his receivers a chance to make a play, and he did not let being hardly talked about out of high school and a redshirt season stop him from reaching his ultimate goal of reaching the NFL.In may take time.
Eli Manning is the Giants starting quarterback, and with the organization’s loyalty to the two-time super bowl champion, it will likely be whenever Manning decides to call it quits that Jones gets the chance to start.
However, when his numbers called expect Jones to prove over-time Dave Gettleman made the right decision by drafting him with the sixth pick of the 2019 NFL Draft.
