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The Quarterback of the Future is an endangered species. As soon as the quarterback of the future is deemed ready, he becomes the quarterback of the present.
Daniel Jones will start his 23rd game since replacing Eli Manning. Manning beat the Raiders in the 2005 regular season finals to clinch a division title in his 23rd start.
Daniel Jones cannot clinch a division title against the Bengals on Sunday. But it now falls to him to lead the charge towards one of them.
The NFC Least is here for the take, and Joe Judge will need the best of Daniel Jones to take it.
Manning was 12-11 after his first 23 games, with Tiki Barber running the ball behind trusted offensive linemen, and Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer and Jeremy Shockey catching it, and Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora and Antonio Pierce in defense, and an experienced Tom. Coughlin on the sidelines.
Jones is 6-16 with a lesser supporting cast, but there’s no excuse he won’t leave the Paul Brown Stadium 7-16.
The truth is that would be unacceptable.
Coaches remind us all the time that football is a team sport. But it’s the quarterback who drives the sport. And the Bengals quarterback on Sunday – no disrespectful – is Brandon Allen.
And while Joe Judge has understandably tried to make him a clear and present danger, he’s no Josh Allen, even though he has an impressive set of targets. Brandon Allen is a companion. He threw 84 passes in the NFL (three touchdowns, two interceptions), all last season. He was the Jaguars’ sixth-round pick in 2016. Jones was the sixth pick in 2019.
This means Jones is giving the Giants a big advantage in the most important position.
At a time when he has started to climb thanks to escaping the clutches of a fearsome second-year jinx and protects football and familiarizes himself with Jason Garrett’s offense, at a time when the Giants have gone 3-7 from 1-7 and were gifted for that unexpected playoff run, he has to run as The Cincinnati Kid.
Patrick Mahomes raised the bar for all young quarterbacks in the franchise in his first year as the Chiefs incumbent in 2018. The precocity of a Joe Burrow and a Justin Herbert puts Jones under a bigger microscope and a brighter projector. Patience is not a virtue for the instant gratification crowd.
The exciting promise Jones (24 TDs, 12 INT) posted as a rookie following in Manning’s giant footsteps was marred to some extent by his 18 fumbles, of which he lost 11. But he had shown enough precision, mobility, physical and mental tenacity, leadership and poise to convince the Giants hierarchy at the end of the season that they had found their new Mann.
“I think we have the answer to the quarterback,” said John Mara.
“We didn’t know it would come that fast,” said Dave Gettleman.
And on the eve of the 2020 season, it was Mara: “I would like to see him take the next step this year. I am sure he will.
“He’s shown a lot of courage and promise, made a lot of big plays, and I think with the right supporting cast around him. I think the sky is the limit for him.
The skies began to fall when all of the ball safety drills Jones had imposed on himself during the virtual offseason failed to pay off. He played four consecutive games without a TD assist. For the season, he threw eight touchdowns, with nine INTs. For his career, he has 32 touchdowns against 21 INT with 25 fumbles, including 15 lost. Manning at the same stadium threw 30 touchdowns against 26 INT, with 10 fumbles, including five lost.
The way Jones uses his legs as a weapon marks the biggest difference between them. Manning had run 35 times for 85 yards and one touchdown after his first 23 games. Jones is 94-663 with three touchdowns – and it should have been four scores, but the turf monster at Linc took care of that.
Phil Simms didn’t start winning over the Giants loyalists until his sixth season. Manning was not fully adopted by Giants fans before his run to Super Bowl XLII at the end of his fourth season.
Jones now has that sudden chance to rally the fanbase to his side earlier. He’ll be the best quarterback in three of the last six games – starting with Allen, then Baker Mayfield, then Andy Dalton in the regular season finale that could decide the division winner.
Jones doesn’t have to apologize for 3-7. He will have to apologize for 3-8. He has never won three consecutive games.
The future is now.
Because now is the time for him to take that sophomore leap.
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