New York Giants: Daniel Jones is his own worst enemy
By Ed Stein
Total picture doesn’t look good
Those aren’t my biggest issues with him because those are very fixable. The next item is also somewhat correctable and understandable. Jones makes his reads late. He’s a rookie and all rookies struggle with adjusting to the speed of the NFL, especially quarterbacks. Jones, however, had the same problems at times during his senior season. An inability to read defensive coverages and react in a timely manner is killing both him and the team. His knowledge and reactions will improve with experience. It won’t be enough however when the next few factors are added in.
There is a video from NBC Sports’ Chris Simms made right after the draft that not only shows the above issues of setting up and arm angle, but also points out how far back on the ball his passing hand is. In and of itself, not a problem, but it comes into play.
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The other thing Jones does that drives Giants fans nuts is his long windup to get rid of the ball, even on short passes. It’s cliché that football is a game of inches. More accurately, it’s a game of fractions of a second.
Combining indecision with a huge windup means it takes longer for the ball to leave Jones’ hand. That’s all opposing pass rushers need, an extra half-second to get to him. To that point, Jones seems to lack that sixth-sense that all good quarterbacks have, the ability to feel oncoming pressure and/ or an internal clock to know that his time in the pocket is up.
Let’s go back to the grip for a second. Why does Jones get stripped of the ball so often? Well, put it all together. The delay in release with more ball available for defensive players to swat at makes him and it tempting targets.
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Maybe if Jones was selected 17th overall instead of sixth things would be different. The expectations wouldn’t be as high right now and he would have gotten more time to settle in behind Manning. That didn’t happen and both the New York Giants and Daniel Jones are paying the price. It will probably cost coach Pat Shurmur and offensive coordinator, Mike Shula, their jobs as well.