Former NFL QB Details Biggest Problem Ailing Daniel Jones

On the heels of a disappointing performance in Houston last Saturday, a big question circling the New York Giants is why quarterback Daniel Jones hasn’t molded into form by the onset of his sixth NFL season with the franchise. 

For a player that’s been marred by several factors in his career, he had one former ally in his position cast some honest, straightforward, thoughts on the matter. To ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky, it’s the propensity for avoidable, unnecessary turnovers that have most plagued Jones’ fading tenure in the Big Apple.

“Anyone who’s heard me ever talk about Daniel (Jones), that’s what the sticking point is,” Orlovsky said on the network’s Get Up morning show. “It’s those moments of panicking with the football, and what you do with that decision is really the determining factor in like ‘are you going to be good, really good, great or subpar’.”

One Obvious Problem Still Plaguing Daniel Jones

Orlovsky noted the best example of mindless errors slowing Jones’s progression as a starting quarterback by citing his 2022 campaign, when the No. 6 overall pick exploded to lead the Giants to a 9-7-1 record and a road playoff win in Minnesota. Jones, who had thrown 22 interceptions in his first two seasons alone, cut the number down to a career-low five while appearing in a career-high 16 games, completing 67.2 percent of his throws for 3,205 yards and 15 touchdowns and adding another seven scores with his legs. 

However, the Duke product would follow that up with six interceptions and a fumble off 909 passing yards in the first six starts of last season before tearing his right ACL in early November. While his year was ultimately cut short, Jones only threw two touchdowns to that point. Given the severe weaknesses of the Giants' offense, it’s fair to assume he might have gone deeper in the wrong direction if he played every game.

In total, Jones owns a 62-54 turnover ratio throughout his NFL journey, a divide that seems to be growing closer with each year he has held down the reins.

“The one season that Daniel Jones played really good football was two years ago, and that’s the one thing he got rid of,” Orlovsky said. “That right there needs to be concerning to Brian Daboll…to have that rear its ugly head, that needs to be an issue.”

There should be no doubt that Jones’ inability to destroy his turnover demons factored into the Giants' decision-making in the offseason. For a player who’s still discerning if he is the arm of their future in his sixth year, the franchise weighed the potential answer in their pursuit of a rookie quarterback in the draft, which ultimately went south when the team didn’t have enough capital to move up the board to potentially snag Jones’ successor.

When that failed, Joe Schoen and the front office decided it was best to roll with Jones for another season before evaluating his contract, but also build a suitable huddle around him that could help quell the constant pressure.  

They first fortified the offensive line with veteran pass blockers to protect Jones’ blindside and encourage a decrease in turnovers from the “panicking” in the pocket that Orloscky was referencing. Then, they recruited rookie sensation Malik Nabers to get the versatile option into his passing circle he is now slated to be an aggressive deep operation, which they believe will entice the quarterback to be more assertive and confident in his own regard. 

Even with those adjustments, which looked good against the Texans, Jones’ foolish miscues still set the fanbase ablaze in the Giants' second preseason game, which everyone believed to be the team’s official dress rehearsal. Jones went 11 of 18 for 138 yards and zero touchdowns in a two-quarter outing, instead forcing two silly passes into bad defensive coverage, one giving the Texans defense a highlight score and keeping New York from executing two more drives that could have changed the whole picture. 

One can’t forget it is only the preseason, which is the perfect time to forgive and forget such mistakes while cleaning them up before the real thing takes place on September 8th against Minnesota. It was also Jones’s first live-action in some nine months since his surgery with a new set of tools in the offense, so the hope is that the rusty performance wears so that the Giants' talent can compete at the level they’re capable of on paper. 

If that doesn’t happen, Orlovsky says it will likely be because of the decisions of Jones under center. Hence his main point that stands true with one week left till the regular season—Jones needs to keep things smart and clean regardless of the other stats he and his teammates put on the board. 

Or else it’ll be all for none and changes will be coming. 

“It has to be concerning because the highs don’t make it up for it,” Orlovsky quipped. “Daniel Jones has only thrown three touchdowns in a game since 2019. So if he was lighting up the scoreboard, it’d be a different conversation, but to have this rear its ugly head again, it needs to be an issue.” 

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