Earlier today, the New York Giants’ head coach, Pat Shurmur, announced that the team’s first round draft choice, Daniel Jones, is the Giants’ starting quarterback going forward.
This move isn’t a surprise as it was widely known that Eli Manning would be handing over the reigns of the position to his replacement. What is surprising for many is the timing. In general, teams wait until halfway through a season to make a change, but that’s if their team is competitive.
The Giants haven’t been
To be fair, it’s not Eli’s fault as the defense has been awful and he’s been without a full compliment of receivers in the first two games.
The offense has averaged 420 yards per game so far, but have only scored four touchdowns. With that in mind, it’s important to note that Jones is far more mobile than Manning, so there is the possibility that it’ll spark a little resurgence in the team’s scoring, but it’s not realistic to expect noticeable improvements until Jones gets a few games under his belt. Until then, they’ll have to rely heavily on Saquan Barkley to carry the offense.
The benefits
Jones does have the benefit of having Manning to mentor him while other teams tend to jettison their old quarterbacks. Manning has long been considered a class act (it runs in the family) and he’s reportedly told Coach Shurmur that he would help the team prepare and win in anyway he can.
For all of his detractors, Manning holds every team passing record, is a two-time Super Bowl MVP, and has a calmness about him that’s rare in an emotional sport. Out of all of his attributes, the latter will probably benefit Jones more than anything during his learning curve.
Jones has big shoes to fill, but he has the time and talent to make the most of the situation. No matter what, the Ghosts of the Past will be looking over his shoulder and urging him to do his best.
