Unless you've been living under a rock, you've likely seen the criticism of the New York Giants for taking Daniel Jones sixth. The hot takes have been relentless, and nearly everyone has been unified in their dislike of the move. Many fans and analysts saw it as a reach. They thought Jones still would have been there when the Giants picked 17th later in the first round.
Giants general manager Dave Gettleman has brushed off the criticism, and so has Jones himself. Jones appeared on Sirius XM NFL Radio recently. He said he isn't paying much attention to all the talk, per Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com.
“I haven’t paid too much mind to that,” Jones said. “I think that’s key to playing quarterback, to being consistent as a quarterback, is keeping your head in the same place. I think that just comes down to your confidence in yourself, and your confidence has got to come from inside of you. I think if you’re looking externally for confidence, then you’re also going to be affected by the negative as well. Just finding confidence in yourself and knowing what you can do as a player, as a person, is kind of the way that works and the best way to think about handling a lot of that stuff.”
Jones will have to be pretty thick-skinned to play in the New York media market, so this is a good sign at least. The Duke product is being billed as the heir apparent to Eli Manning, and that won't be an easy transition.
Jones was a late riser in college, and he wasn't on most people's radars until just a few months ago. His meteoric rise ended with him getting taken sixth overall, and now he'll have to deliver. So far, it sounds like he's up to the challenge.