The New York Giants are in a weird situation entering this year. The offense consists of veteran weapons Kenny Golladay, Sterling Shepard, Kyle Rudolph, and Evan Engram as well as Kedarius Toney, Darius Slayton, and Saquon Barkley. The playmakers are there and the defense looks to be among the top 12-15 in the league with James Bradbury leading the way. Newly drafted edge rusher Azeez Ojulari should help stabilize the pass rush, only helping this defense get better. The offensive line is terrible, but young players improving could certainly help. The Giants look good on paper, but then we see the quarterback.

And that quarterback is Daniel Jones. And he is the x factor for the Giants this year.

Giants X Factor: Daniel Jones

This shouldn't really come as a surprise. Daniel Jones is the clear X factor that will determine how far the Giants go in 2021. Getting to 10 wins should be the goal for every team as that would almost guarantee a playoff spot, but especially in this division. The NFC East is headlined by the Dallas Cowboys, followed by the Washington Football Team and the Philadelphia Eagles. After those three teams we get to the Giants, a team that very well could win the division if things break right.

The main thing that absolutely needs to go right for the Giants to go anywhere is Daniel Jones being the best version of himself. We've seen flashes of him being a solid quarterback, but through two seasons he has more turnovers than touchdowns. No matter how many advanced stats you look at, that will always be a formula for disaster.

Daniel Jones is entering his third season in the NFL and for players on a rookie contract this year is extremely important. Before the fourth year of the contract kicks in, teams must decide whether or not to exercise the team option for year five. Barring a massive explosion from Jones, he doesn't look like the $35 million man a lot of quarterbacks are turning into. So getting paid in year five would be massive for him.

It seems that the team believes Jones can make the leap with the offensive weapons they've given him. If the Giants were completely out on Jones then embracing a full rebuild to get a quarterback next year would have been the smart move. Bringing in Golladay, Rudolph, and Toney doesn't seem like an all in rebuild, although none of them are game changers by any means. Adding those three on top of a group of already solid weapons including Barkley, Slayton, and Engram seems to be telling Jones it's now or never. This group is too good to only win three or four games so even if Jones is bad again the team will probably be picking around 12th or so.

The team is relying heavily on a quarterback with a ton to prove with no real backup plan. Does Mike Glennon do anything for you? Of course not. If Daniel Jones fails early then sticking with him and giving him more weapons will look like a huge mistake. Will he be able to prove he can be a reliable quarterback and get to nine or ten wins? He's going to have to if he likes his job.