I’m not arguing that you should make a waiver claim on Daniel Jones, but I think the Giants offense might actually be better with him at quarterback. There are some things he does better than Eli Manning.
He’s got a stronger arm for sure. He also has a lot more mobility. These are both traits that might help open up the offense some.
I also like his accuracy, especially around the end zone. If you watch his highlights at Duke, you’ll see him showing an ability to drop the ball in on tight throws around the end zone, and he made a couple of really nice touchdown passes in the preseason.
Jones’ preseason production (outside of 3 fumbles) was about as good as you’ll see from a quarterback.
Admittedly, these are just practice games (and teams take them even less seriously now than they did in the past) but Jones in August went 29 of 34 for 416 yards, with 2 TDs and no interceptions. He completed 85 percent of his passes and finished with a passer rating of 137.3.
Since 2008, 33 other quarterbacks have been selected with first-round picks. None put up numbers anywhere near that good in the preseason. (On the downside, the next four highest passer ratings were compiled by quarterbacks who haven’t had much success in the real games.)
FIRST-ROUND QUARTERBACKS IN THE PRESEASON | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Att | Com | Yds | Pct | TD | Int | Rating |
2019 | Daniel Jones, NYG | 34 | 29 | 416 | 85% | 2 | 0 | 137.3 |
2013 | EJ Manuel, Buff. | 33 | 26 | 199 | 79% | 2 | 0 | 112.0 |
2014 | Teddy Bridgewater, Min. | 49 | 30 | 283 | 61% | 5 | 0 | 111.2 |
2009 | Mark Sanchez, NYJ | 37 | 24 | 347 | 65% | 3 | 1 | 111.0 |
2014 | Blake Bortles, Jac. | 51 | 32 | 521 | 63% | 2 | 0 | 110.0 |
2017 | Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 54 | 34 | 390 | 63% | 4 | 0 | 109.3 |
2017 | Mitchell Trubisky, Chi. | 53 | 36 | 364 | 68% | 3 | 0 | 106.2 |
2012 | Robert Griffin III, Was. | 31 | 20 | 193 | 65% | 2 | 0 | 103.3 |
2015 | Marcus Mariota, Ten. | 30 | 21 | 326 | 70% | 1 | 1 | 102.9 |
2010 | Sam Bradford, St.L. | 55 | 33 | 338 | 60% | 3 | 0 | 95.9 |
2012 | Andrew Luck, Ind. | 66 | 41 | 522 | 62% | 3 | 2 | 89.3 |
2011 | Jake Locker, Ten. | 49 | 32 | 316 | 65% | 2 | 1 | 88.5 |
2018 | Baker Mayfield, Cle. | 61 | 35 | 501 | 57% | 2 | 1 | 88.2 |
2016 | Paxton Lynch, Den. | 68 | 40 | 458 | 59% | 4 | 2 | 86.5 |
2018 | Sam Darnold, NYJ | 45 | 29 | 244 | 64% | 2 | 1 | 83.9 |
2018 | Josh Allen, Buff. | 44 | 24 | 210 | 55% | 2 | 0 | 82.6 |
2018 | Josh Rosen, Ariz. | 29 | 16 | 148 | 55% | 1 | 0 | 80.8 |
2011 | Christian Ponder, Min. | 49 | 27 | 290 | 55% | 1 | 0 | 79.5 |
2019 | Kyler Murray, Ariz. | 36 | 23 | 193 | 64% | 0 | 0 | 77.7 |
2018 | Lamar Jackson, Balt. | 68 | 34 | 408 | 50% | 3 | 1 | 77.3 |
2014 | Johnny Manziel, Cle. | 59 | 30 | 296 | 51% | 2 | 0 | 76.7 |
2008 | Matt Ryan, Atl. | 59 | 34 | 294 | 58% | 2 | 1 | 75.1 |
2019 | Dwayne Haskins, Was. | 58 | 32 | 409 | 55% | 2 | 2 | 74.6 |
2008 | Joe Flacco, Balt. | 67 | 35 | 284 | 52% | 1 | 0 | 68.3 |
2017 | Deshaun Watson, Hou. | 56 | 29 | 397 | 52% | 0 | 1 | 67.3 |
2012 | Ryan Tannehill, Mia. | 78 | 41 | 414 | 53% | 1 | 1 | 66.9 |
2011 | Cam Newton, Car. | 57 | 24 | 300 | 42% | 1 | 0 | 64.9 |
2011 | Blaine Gabbert, Jac. | 70 | 35 | 365 | 50% | 1 | 1 | 64.3 |
2012 | Brandon Weeden, Cle. | 49 | 24 | 297 | 49% | 0 | 1 | 59.7 |
2016 | Jared Goff, LAR | 49 | 22 | 232 | 45% | 2 | 2 | 55.8 |
2009 | Matthew Stafford, Det. | 55 | 30 | 389 | 55% | 1 | 4 | 52.8 |
2015 | Jameis Winston, T.B. | 47 | 23 | 311 | 49% | 0 | 2 | 52.7 |
2016 | Carson Wentz, Phil. | 24 | 12 | 89 | 50% | 0 | 1 | 41.8 |
2009 | Josh Freeman, T.B. | 49 | 22 | 238 | 45% | 1 | 3 | 41.0 |
It is tough, of course, for a rookie quarterback to put up notable numbers in his first season. Almost impossible. Since 2008, only three rookie quarterbacks (among those chosen in the first round) have put up top-10 numbers in their first season. That’s per-start numbers. Those three are all players who were helped along by excellent rushing production: Cam Newton, Robert Griffin and Andrew Luck.
FIRST-ROUND QUARTERBACKS, PER-START STATS | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | St | Pass | Run | TTD | Pts | Rnk |
2008 | Matt Ryan, Atl. | 16 | 215 | 7 | 1.06 | 15.9 | 21 |
2008 | Joe Flacco, Balt. | 16 | 186 | 11 | 1.00 | 14.8 | 26 |
2009 | Mark Sanchez, NYJ | 15 | 163 | 7 | 1.00 | 13.5 | 28 |
2009 | Matthew Stafford, Det. | 10 | 227 | 11 | 1.50 | 19.0 | 14 |
2009 | Josh Freeman, T.B. | 9 | 204 | 17 | 1.11 | 16.8 | 23 |
2010 | Sam Bradford, St.L. | 16 | 220 | 4 | 1.19 | 16.2 | 24 |
2011 | Jake Locker, Ten. | 0 | 0 | 0 | .00 | .0 | -- |
2011 | Christian Ponder, Min. | 10 | 175 | 21 | 1.30 | 16.1 | 24 |
2011 | Cam Newton, Car. | 16 | 253 | 44 | 2.19 | 27.8 | 4 |
2011 | Blaine Gabbert, Jac. | 14 | 154 | 7 | .86 | 11.8 | 33 |
2012 | Robert Griffin III, Was. | 15 | 213 | 54 | 1.80 | 24.2 | 5 |
2012 | Andrew Luck, Ind. | 16 | 273 | 16 | 1.75 | 22.9 | 10 |
2012 | Ryan Tannehill, Mia. | 16 | 206 | 13 | .88 | 15.6 | 28 |
2012 | Brandon Weeden, Cle. | 15 | 226 | 7 | .93 | 15.8 | 27 |
2013 | EJ Manuel, Buff. | 10 | 197 | 19 | 1.30 | 17.7 | 25 |
2014 | Teddy Bridgewater, Min. | 12 | 231 | 15 | 1.25 | 18.6 | 21 |
2014 | Blake Bortles, Jac. | 13 | 207 | 30 | .69 | 16.2 | 27 |
2014 | Johnny Manziel, Cle. | 2 | 56 | 8 | .00 | 3.6 | -- |
2015 | Marcus Mariota, Ten. | 12 | 235 | 21 | 1.83 | 22.2 | 16 |
2015 | Jameis Winston, T.B. | 16 | 253 | 13 | 1.75 | 21.8 | 17 |
2016 | Paxton Lynch, Den. | 2 | 164 | 15 | .50 | 11.6 | -- |
2016 | Jared Goff, LAR | 7 | 156 | 2 | .86 | 11.7 | -- |
2016 | Carson Wentz, Phil. | 16 | 236 | 9 | 1.13 | 17.8 | 27 |
2017 | Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 1 | 284 | 10 | .00 | 15.2 | -- |
2017 | Mitchell Trubisky, Chi. | 12 | 183 | 21 | .75 | 14.7 | 29 |
2017 | Deshaun Watson, Hou. | 6 | 266 | 42 | 3.33 | 32.2 | -- |
2018 | Baker Mayfield, Cle. | 13 | 271 | 10 | 2.08 | 23.0 | 11 |
2018 | Sam Darnold, NYJ | 13 | 220 | 11 | 1.38 | 17.8 | 27 |
2018 | Josh Allen, Buff. | 11 | 182 | 55 | 1.64 | 22.8 | 13 |
2018 | Josh Rosen, Ariz. | 13 | 172 | 10 | .85 | 13.1 | 32 |
2018 | Lamar Jackson, Balt. | 7 | 161 | 79 | 1.29 | 22.3 | -- |
2019 | Daniel Jones, NYG | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
2019 | Kyler Murray, Ariz. | 2 | 329 | 9 | 1.00 | 22.3 | -- |
2019 | Dwayne Haskins, Was. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
—Ian Allan