Giants Legend Phil Simms Sounds Off on Daniel Jones Debate

Getty Quarterback Daniel Jones #8 of the New York Giants warms up against the Baltimore Ravens.

The New York Giants have zero quarterback controversy this offseason. Although, depending on how things go throughout the year, they could soon have a quarterback dilemma on their hands. Daniel Jones is fully entrenched as the team’s starter. Yet, if he fails to show growth in season three, Dave Gettleman and company could easily be looking to move on from the former Duke Blue Devil come next spring.

Whether it’s fair or not, quarterbacks are judged, at times unjustly, at a rapid rate these days — a practice that Giants legend Phil Simms is still trying to wrap his head around.

“My favorite thing is listening to TV, reading articles — ‘make or break years.’ And when I say that, it’s like I’ve never seen so many quarterbacks, ‘This is it! Make or break! Gotta do it! Make or break!'” Simms told CBS Sports. “Well what does that mean, Super Bowl? These type of things, it’s crazy.”

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Simms Talks Jones, What the Giants QB Must Show in Year 3

The fact of the matter is, the position is simply too important and too expensive for organizations to sit around and wait to see moderate growth under center. For context, as much flack as Mitchell Trubisky has received during his playing career, the former No. 2 overall pick owns a win-loss record of eight games over .500, he’s made the postseason on two occasions, has amassed 72 total touchdowns to 37 interceptions and has a Pro Bowl nod under his belt. Yet, the Chicago Bears were still happy to kick the 26-year-old to the curb this offseason.

“Teams were more patient, movement was not anything like it is now, the money was not such a big factor,” Simms noted. “But so many good young quarterbacks coming out, it’s easier to make the move and look and see and really know sometimes if the guy coming out that you might draft is just better than your so-called franchise quarterback that you thought you already had. And fans are impatient, the media is very impatient, and that kind of drives it.”

Could Jones be heading for a similar fate to that of Trubisky’s? While the former has played two fewer seasons, his on-field production and win-loss ratio pale in comparison to the now-Bills backup. Now, does Jones pass the eye test better than Trubisky? You could certainly make that argument. Still, it may not matter if Jones goes through another subpar, playoff-less season.

“If the Giants go 8-9 and Daniel Jones plays well and you can see that he’s the guy, Giants fans will be happy,” Simms claimed. “But if they go 8-9 and he doesn’t play well, then we’re gonna have that debate. ‘Oh, should they draft a quarterback, should they do this,’ or whatever. So it’s really a fine line there. But I think if he plays well, that will make a lot of people feel good regardless of the record. Now I’m not saying if they go 4-13 that people are gonna say, ‘Well, the quarterback played well, we really feel good about the organization,’ but I think you understand what I’m trying to say.”