Giants’ Daniel Jones ‘absolutely’ believes he is one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks

No one else believes it. The recently-released Madden Ratings don’t even have him among the top 32 quarterbacks in the NFL. Daniel Jones of the New York Giants, though, “absolutely” believes he is one of the league’s top quarterbacks.

That’s what Jones told Tyler Dunne of the fantastic subscription site, Go Long, during a 1-on-1 sit down this week at Giants training camp.

“I’ve done it, and I’ve played at a really high level and I understand I need to play consistently at that level, but I think we got the guys and we’ve got the makeup of the team for us all to play at a really high level, including me,” Jones told Dunne. “I know I can.”

Jones knows the deal with the Giants’ quarterback situation. He has discussed it with GM Joe Schoen. He has watched ‘Hard Knocks’. He knows the Giants were serious this past offseason about possibly selecting a quarterback in the draft, and that they would have traded up to No. 3 for Drake Maye if they could have matched up with the New England Patriots.

“It ticks you off a little bit to see,” Jones told Dunne. “It’s not fun and not something that you’re excited about. Like I said, it is what it is at this point and it’s my job to play well regardless.”

Jones has played and sounded this spring and summer like a quarterback with a little bit of an edge that may not have previously existed.

“I’m very motivated by this and by being as good a player as I can be,” Jones said. “Definitely didn’t enjoy watching that and it was a tough situation in a lot of ways, but that’s the reality of the NFL. My job is to be on the field and play good football. So that’s something I’ve got to understand and it is what it is at this point. It’s about playing the game and playing well now.”

Jones told Dunne he wants to be an “aggressive” quarterback.

“Being able to push the ball down the field to our guys. We’ve got a number of guys who can get behind the defense,” Jones said. “So being aggressive and taking shots when we’ve got ‘em, and then smart decision-making when it’s not there and an ability to extend plays and use my legs in the run game. All of that. Mostly, this position’s about decision-making and knowing when you’ve got it and knowing when you don’t, and then handling both those situations accordingly.”

We will see how it works out for Jones and the Giants during the upcoming season. If it works out well, as Schoen reminded on ‘Hard Knocks’, the quarterback has two years left on his contract. If it doesn’t, someone else will be behind center for the Giants in 2025.