The New York Giants dropped to 1-3 after Monday night's humiliating 24-3 rout by the Seattle Seahawks. Daniel Jones effectively sealed New York's fate with a brutal red zone interception, which rookie CB Devon Witherspoon returned 97 yards for a touchdown. Brian Daboll struggled to hide his frustration with his quarterback, who signed a four-year, $160 million contract this offseason. That brings us to the question: should Giants fans be concerned about this head coach/quarterback pairing?
Brian Daboll has a lot of coaching experience in the NFL. He's had his ups and downs, bouncing around the league a fair amount. However, his most recent stop with the Buffalo Bills was mostly a major success. Many credit Daboll with the transformation of Josh Allen from a project to a Pro Bowler. Allen had his best season during Daboll's final season in Buffalo and has now regressed. Since Daboll's departure, no quarterback has turned the ball over more than Allen.
That doesn't necessarily mean Daboll is cut out to be an NFL head coach, but it does show he can maximize a quarterback. Now, Daniel Jones' performance to this point in the season is not the Giants' only problem. The Seahawks managed to sack Daniel Jones 10 times Monday night. 10! Sacks are sometimes the quarterback's fault, but that big a number means the offensive line has major problems.
Then, the Giants haven't really given Jones the greatest weapons to work with either. Here are Jones' most-targeted wide receivers so far this season: Darius Slayton, Parris Campbell, Isaiah Hodgins, Wan'Dale Robinson. Between the four of them, they have four seasons of 400+ receiving yards, and Slayton has three of those.
Outside of the receivers, there's 31-year-old tight end Darren Waller, who the Giants traded for this offseason. At least the Giants tried to get a weapon in there, but the Waller trade looks like mistake so far. Waller has had only two healthy seasons in his career.
The Giants' best asset is Saquon Barkley. He's a pretty good player right? Yeah, the best on the roster, and the Giants refused to pay him this offseason.
So not everything is on Daniel Jones here. New York has a pretty poorly-constructed roster. But, at the end of the day, the most important element of a franchise is the quarterback. The great ones — the ones you can compete for championships with — are able to overcome mediocre weapons and bad offensive lines. They can play from behind and don't make mistakes when the lights get too bright.
Prime time at MetLife Stadium. Giants trail by 11 late in the third quarter. Ball on the Seahawks' five-yard line. A touchdown cuts the lead to one possession. Instead, Jones found the wrong color jersey and the wrong end zone. Got the ball back and threw another pick. Ball game.
Final line: 27/34, 203 yards, 0 TDs, 2 interceptions. Giants score three points at home against a defense that has allowed over 29 points per game this season.
Unless you have a roster like San Francisco's, you just can't have mediocre quarterback play in the NFL. Whether Jones is playing poorly because of coaching or his own incompetence isn't really relevant. Four years, $160 million is relevant. Jones is the third best quarterback in his own division, and he can't perform in big spots.
Sure, Saquon Barkley was out Monday night. Sure, the Giants faced elite defenses against Dallas and San Francisco. But Daniel Jones is not suddenly going to emerge as an elite quarterback.
At the very least, Giants fans should be concerned about their quarterback situation and his contract. But it doesn't look like Daboll is successfully developing him the way he did with Josh Allen either.
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