On a recent episode of Speak Live , co-host Emmanuel Acho, a former NFL linebacker who had a cup of coffee with the New York Giants in 2013, applauded the team for sticking with quarterback Daniel Jones.
"If you pay a guy $80 million, then you better be certain that he is not your future," Acho said. "Not, 'Well, he got hurt, so he might not be the future.' You better be, without a doubt, abundantly clear that he is not your quarterback.”
Jones has been one of the most polarizing players to wear a Giants uniform in some time. His supporters point to the fact that he’s never had a stable offensive line or a No. 1 receiver, nor has he had stability in the same scheme under the same coaching staff for more than two seasons.
Then there are his detractors who point to his career statistics, which include 40 interceptions to 62 touchdowns; that he’s never thrown more than 24 touchdowns in a season, nor has he passed for more than 3,205 yards in a season.
Jones’s injury history has also been a sticking point, as has his inconsistency in making multiple reads and finding open receivers down the field.
Acho landed in the pro-Jones camp, partly due to one very important element he feels Jones hasn’t had in his career that many of his contemporaries at the position have.
“No quarterback succeeds at a high level without a dominant receiver or receiving threat,” Acho said. “Daniel Jones is the only $40 million quarterback that ain't got no Pro Bowl wide receivers.”
Acho also took his defense of Jones a step further.
“He also has no Pro Bowl offensive lineman. That's not a Daniel Jones issue. So, Daniel Jones is the only quarterback in the National Football League making $40 million that had no Pro Bowl wideout and no Pro Bowl [offensive lineman].
“So if you really want to assess Daniel Jones, give him the complete and fairest shot possible, which is giving him the opportunity to have Pro Bowl talent at wideout and have Pro Bowl talent on the offensive line."
Acho is correct that Jones has never had a Pro Bowl-caliber wide receiver, something the Giants hope will change this year with the addition of first-round draft pick Malik Nabers.
However, he is partially correct about the offensive line, as he failed to acknowledge that when healthy, left tackle Andrew Thomas is probably as close to being a Pro Bowler as any offensive lineman the Giants have fielded during Jones’s tenure.
Jones's best season was in 2022, when he posted his first career winning record as the Giants starting quarterback and set single-season career highs in completion percentage (67.2 percent), passing yards (3,205), and passing success rate (45.7 percent).
Jones also threw a career-low five interceptions and rushed for a career-high 708 yards on 120 carries. Most importantly, he took the Giants to the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and won their first postseason game since 2011.
Giants general manager Joe Schoen, in the premiere episode of Hard Knocks, which focuses on the Giants off-season, acknowledged Jones’s recent injury history, which has included three significant issues over a three-year span, but added, “He didn't have much of a chance this year. That's legit. Like your offseason, your core guys that were gonna play together played less than 60 snaps together.”
Schoen pointed to the offensive line’s performance woes, brought on in part by a rash of injuries, saying that not even Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes could have won playing behind the Giants' offensive line.
“I'm not giving up on (Jones). He's under contract for three more years. Just protecting ourselves because [the] best predictor of the future is the past," Schoen said.
“This is the year for Daniel. The plan all along was to give him a couple of years. Is he our guy for the next ten years, or do we need to pivot and find somebody else?”
The Giants hope that with an improved offensive line and a potential No. 1 receiver on the roster, the answer will be the former.
