New York Giants: It’s not Daniel Jones’ time yet

After an 0-2 start, many New York Giants fans are calling for first-round draft pick Daniel Jones to replace Eli Manning as the Big Blue quarterback. Not so fast.

The voices are getting louder. Many New York Giants fans want 2019’s sixth overall draft pick, Daniel Jones to take over the Big Blue offense from Eli Manning. Let’s back down on that for a little while. The baton (or snap count in this case) will be passed soon enough, that’s a given. For the time being, however, he has to sit.

Starting with the fact that Manning has played pretty well, contrary to popular belief. In fact, he has completed 63 percent of his passes for 556 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. Additionally, for a guy who supposedly can’t move, Manning has only been sacked twice. Those are solid numbers.

Now consider that Manning has no one to throw to, and those numbers look even better. The New York Giants were thin at wide receiver, to begin with, after Odell Beckham was dealt to Cleveland. His replacement, Golden Tate, is suspended the first quarter of the season for violating the NFL’s banned substance policy.

Sterling Shepard, signed a big contract extension in the offseason, broke his thumb in training camp, then left the opener in Dallas with a concussion. That left Cody Latimer a five-year veteran with 46 career receptions, as the team’s best wide receiver. He made it to the fourth quarter of game two before a helmet-to-helmet hit put him out with a concussion.

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Tight end Evan Engram and running back Saquon Barkley are the New York Giants only threats in the passing game. Opposing defenses know it as well. After watching the Dallas game film, Buffalo had a simple game plan. They double-covered Engram all game and stacked the box against Barkley.

The dearth of receivers is an impossible situation for almost any quarterback. One of the basic tenets of good management is to put people in positions where they can succeed. Why would the G-Men want to drop a rookie in the middle of this? Especially one that the team wants to run its offense for years to come.

Daniel Jones has to stay on the bench for now. There is almost no one for him to throw the ball to and playing him would be detrimental to his long-term development. On pass plays, Jones would be in the pocket waiting for substandard wide receivers to get open. Any good defensive line will tee off on him.

New York Giants fans, now is the time for patience. Jones will play quarterback for the New York Giants, just not any time soon. If head coach Pat Shurmur does make a change, October 20 would be the earliest, best date.

The G-Men would have 10 days between their October 10, Thursday night game, with New England and their following matchup with Arizona. Plenty of time to get Jones first-team reps under center. Additionally, Tate will have a pair of games in Giants blue under his belt and the rookie QB would have some options to throw to. Until then let him learn.

The New York Giants are struggling, but this is not the time to play a rookie quarterback in a situation that has failure written all over it.