New York Giants: In Search of Consistency at Quarterback

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll came to the team with a reputation for being a quarterback whisperer, a man who knew just what to do to get the most out of raw talent, as he did with Tua Taglivola at Alabama and then with Jsoh Allen in Buffalo.

Daboll’s expertise is a big reason why he was one of the favorite candidates during the Giants last coaching cycle and why he got the Giants’ job. At the time, New York was facing a crossroads with its own quarterback, Daniel Jones, the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft and a player who showed flashes of being a promising quarterback but not quite enough to hang one’s hat on.

Three seasons and one $160 million contract later, the Giants are still at that same crossroads with their quarterback situation. Jones, now in his sixth season and his first coming off a torn ACL, has the best supporting cast in years. But despite that, despite having Daboll as his play caller, and being fully recovered from his ACL injury, the inconsistencies in Jones’s play as a quarterback don’t seem to be improving.

Jones has yet to consistently anticipate his throws, get his passes to his receivers on time, hit receivers in stride consistently, and trust what he sees to the point where he holds the ball too long and the window for a big play to happen closes. 

As a result, the Giants, who have been seeking to generate more chunk plays in their offense, have struggled to do so on a consistent basis. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the Giants have completed 13 plays of 20+ yards in six games, 26th in the league and well behind the league leaders like San Francisco and Green Bay (23 each) and the Colts (21).

Yet the Giants believe that talent, physical skill set, and work ethic are there. But consistency? That’s what Daboll, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, and quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney are trying to figure out.

“You touch the ball on every play, and your goal as a quarterback is to come out of that game and make a proper decision,” Daboll said. “Certainly, that’s not going to happen all the time. Daniel, like I’ve said plenty of times, he’ll do everything he can to be as good as he can be.”

So then, if practice makes perfect, why is there inconsistency?

 “I think each situation is probably a little different,” Daboll said. “[Sunday] we talked about it. We moved on. It was a play that he would like to have back.”

It needs to be noted that even before the season began, the Giants were seriously contemplating moving on from Jones, partially due to concerns about his injury history and partially due to their liking of Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels.

As revealed on Hard Knocks, the Giants liked those quarterbacks enough to explore trading up to get one of them. When the price proved to be too high, the team pivoted to Plan B, which was to add one of the top receivers in the draft class to help the offense.

And Jones? There was never any doubt that he would play this year if healthy, given he’s collecting the last of the guaranteed money owed to him in Year 2 of his contract. 

But beyond this year is another story, especially if the inconsistency in his play continues, though Daboll doesn’t sound ready to give up on Jones just yet. 

“Told him I have a lot of confidence in him,” Daboll said. “You’re always communicating with your players. Quarterback, obviously, when you’re talking to him on a play-to-play basis and all the time you spend with him during the week. 

“So, you’re going to have some of those, just like every player is going to have some of them. You talk, you coach, you teach, you listen, and you move on.”