Getty New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones.
During his introductory press conference, new general manager Joe Schoen went out of his way to give a vote of confidence for Daniel Jones as the Giants‘ answer under center. “When the new staff gets in here, we’ll build an offense around Daniel to accentuate what he does best,” Schoen told reporters on January 26.
Fast forward two days and the inception of said staff has begun to be put into place. On January 28, the team announced that Brian Daboll had been hired as the 22nd head coach in franchise history. An offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills over the past four seasons, the 46-year-old served as a catalyst in manufacturing one of the league’s most vaunted units — built around the skillset of superstar signal-caller Josh Allen. Now in East Rutherford, the question is does Daboll believe he’ll be capable of tapping into that same offensive genius with Jones leading the charge? By all initial accounts, that answer is yes.
“I Heard mid-week that Daboll absolutely loves Daniel Jones — makes sense now,” ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky tweeted in response to the Daboll hiring. “Good for him — good for DJ.”
The Next Josh Allen?
Daboll’s infatuation for the former Duke Blue Devil has been readily relayed across social media, including by Chris Bisignano and Jerry Fole of The Giant Insider Newspaper & Podcast, who highlighted that Daboll sees similarities between Jones and his former star QB in Buffalo.
“As I reported before his second interview, Daboll likes Daniel Jones and sees a lot of similarities with him and Josh Allen,” they tweeted moments after the hire. “Daboll did wonders playing to Allen’s strengths and that’s what Daboll will do with Daniel. Daboll goes from one big kid to another- goes from one QB who. Many thought would be a bust after his first two seasons to another who many view a bust right now. Time will tell if he can do his thing with Jones. One thing that Daniel has that Allen didn’t at first is weapons. Daboll has done a great job with Allen and offense up in Orchard Park. Now can he do it here with Giants? [The] First order of business is O-line.”
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Jones Won’t Have a Fighter’s Chance Without an O-Line Overhaul
That last part that Bisignano and Fole mention is key, and those within the Giants building are well aware of it. Co-owner John Mara noted during Schoen’s press conference that the team has done “everything possible” to ruin Jones’ progress under center. As for Schoen himself, he was a bit more direct in pinpointing the issues in New York.
“If you want to see Daniel Jones put his best foot forward, he’s got to be on his feet. If you want to see what Saquon can do, it would be nice if we could block guys,” he told Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.
In 2021, Daboll enjoyed a front-row seat to Allen’s brilliance. The 25-year-old gun-slinger put up MVP-like numbers, combining for a total of 42 touchdowns and 5,170 yards from scrimmage. As far as Jones goes, he’s amassed 50 total scores over the entirety of his 38-game career and has seen his passing touchdown numbers slip every year since 2019 when he led all rookie quarterbacks with 24.
Hopefully improving upon Pro Football Focus‘ 30th-ranked offensive line unit could help push Jones’ numbers back in the right direction and potentially towards production similar to that of Allen’s while under Daboll.