Less than two weeks after realizing his NFL dream, Daniel Jones has already received more flak than most top-10 picks do their entire rookie seasons. Perhaps in an effort to stem widespread criticism of the New York Giants' rookie quarterback, NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger dove into his film from college, finding out what many draftniks knew already: Jones is a very talented player who was beset by a subpar supporting cast at Duke.

What most stuck out to Baldinger, it seems, is Jones' athleticism. He ran a solid 4.81 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, and tied for the lead among all quarterback in Indianapolis with a 120-inch broad jump. At 6-foot-5, 221 pounds, Jones is a “star athlete” for a quarterback, according to Baldinger.

Jones threw for 2,674 yards, 22 touchdowns, and nine interceptions while completing 60.5 percent of his passes last season, subpar numbers for an elite quarterback prospect. Duke went 8-5 overall in 2018, but just 3-5 in ACC play, indicative of a lack of surrounding talent that Baldinger believes artificially deflated his statistics.

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Obviously, the jury will be out on Jones' career until he plays his first NFL game. We're unlikely to find out how he will fare against the world's best competition this season, either, as the 21-year-old is primed to sit behind Eli Manning.

Regardless, post-draft criticism of Jones seems far more related to the Giants than him alone – or at least it should be. What would the reaction to his selection have been had New York taken him at No. 17, or later when the team traded back into the first round at No. 30? Unfortunately, we'll never know for sure.

In the meantime, good on Baldinger for trying to change the conversation on Jones through objective analysis of his collegiate game tape rather than narrative tropes.