Even as Daniel Jones met with the media Monday, Joe Schoen and his army of lieutenants continued their dogged search for his successor.
The drumbeat is getting louder as the April 25 NFL Draft approaches and it’s impossible for Daniel Jones not to hear it even if he tries not to.
It’s boom or bust time for Daniel Jones.
Boom would be the first No. 1 receiver he would have as the Giants franchise quarterback.
The bust would be Schoen and Brian Daboll recruiting Drake Maye or JJ McCarthy as their own franchise quarterback.
Boom: Any of the elite receivers — Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze — with an improved offensive line that could keep him upright would give Jones the chance, at the very least, to be quarterback of The Present in 2024… and lays out every possible way to escape the guillotine the Giants have constructed when his contract allows for termination before the 2025 season.
Bust: Any of the top quarterbacks in the class of 2024 would make him a lame-duck $35.5 million mentor with a fleeting present and no future. He would be living on borrowed time.
It would be remiss of Schoen not to diligently pursue these quarterbacks given the neck issues and torn ACL that sabotaged Jones.
If Schoen has the kind of conviction on one of these quarterbacks that Ernie Accorsi had on Eli Manning, that Dave Gettleman had on Jones, you strike when the iron is hot if and when you can, because you don’t know if you will be choosing again up to #6.
Wherever he is, around 9 p.m. on the night of April 25, Jones will cross his fingers that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will take office and announce: “With the sixth pick, the New York Giants select” …Marvjn Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze.
Boom.
This would allow Jones to urge his opponents to keep an obituary on his Giants career.
There’s a lot of the franchise quarterback’s handwriting on the wall, but Jones insists he doesn’t read it.
“I’m focused on what I’m doing here with my rehab,” he said. “You know, that’s the nature of our business. It’s a competitive league, so the best way to deal with it, I think, is to focus on what I’m doing, focus on myself and make sure that I’m one, healthy, and then ready to play good football. So that’s what I can control. This is what I can do to help myself and help the team.
He presented an optimistic report on the progress of his rehabilitation. No setbacks so far.
“The plan is to be ready for training camp,” Jones said, “so that’s what I’m aiming for and I feel good about being ready.”
Of course, there are never any guarantees. This is why the Giants signed Drew Lock after studying Russell Wilson.
“I throw with movement and drops and quarterback-specific drills,” Jones said.
The unexplored variable that has given the club pause is Jones’ most recent neck issue.
“My neck is 100 percent healthy,” Jones said. “It was a stinger type injury, that’s quite common in football, it’s calmed down and I feel good.”
But it’s still a concern as he missed the final six games of the 2021 season with a neck injury, and the Giants will now have to protect Jones even more from himself.
“A lot of shots are in the pocket where you’re not moving or protecting yourself as much as you would when you’re running,” Jones said.
Schoen finally beefed up the offensive line — he prays — in free agency, with the bright idea that Jones will no longer run for his life. Until further notice, minus Vanilla Vick, please.
“We’ll just have open lines of communication with Daniel and all the players,” assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka said. “You want to be able to evaluate them all. We’ll see where they are and what his comfort is on those, and come up with an offensive game plan that really does us good.
The NFL always reminds us that you can be a prince one year and a pauper the next.
Asked if he feels he’s the best quarterback, if healthy, on the Giants going into the 2024 season, Jones said, “Yes, yes.”
Of course he does. He doesn’t want to be poor.
“I think you can get into trouble when you try to think too much about some of these things and how it all plays out,” Jones said.
His Boom or Bust clock is ticking.
New York Post
