The Dallas Cowboys were quietly hoping that Saquon Barkley struggled in his rookie season with the New York Giants. Of course, that didn't become true, but the NFC East franchise is hoping that rookie quarterback Daniel Jones isn't “too good.”
Per Paul Schwartz in the New York Post:
“You probably do have a little twinge of, ‘Well, I hope he’s not too good,’” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “I know when we were watching [Saquon] Barkley from afar, you say, ‘Whew, we’re going to be going up against that two times a year.’ But that’s part of the business. It’s also interesting to see how these young teams, or how these young quarterbacks are brought along.’’
The Giants turned some heads when they surprisingly selected Jones with the sixth overall selection in this year's draft. Coming out of Duke, scouts believed that Jones wasn't a first-round draft pick.
Nonetheless, New York felt comfortable taking Jones to develop under veteran Eli Manning. Through his first three preseason games, the rookie passer has been phenomenal with 369 yards and two touchdowns while completing 25 of his 30 passing attempts.
It may be the preseason, but the Giants are likely content to see their first-rounder playing well under any circumstances. On the other side, the Cowboys don't want to see the Duke product play well enough to make the Giants a much-improved team.
Last year, Dallas had to face Barkley twice in his rookie season and realized they are going to have a tough time stopping him for years to come. In the near future, the Cowboys will be game-planning to stop the duo of Barkley and Jones twice a year when the Giants feel comfortable with Jones as the starter.
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