Before the Giants named Brian Daboll head coach, he had become something of an offensive wizard up in Buffalo. He was something less than that during his time as offensive coordinator with the Browns, Dolphins and Chiefs.
The difference? In Buffalo he spent four years coaching Josh Allen.
In four years at those other stops, his starting quarterbacks were Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson, Colt McCoy, Jake Delhomme, Seneca Wallace, Matt Moore, Chad Henne, Matt Cassel and Brady Quinn again.
So while the Giants may have gotten a terrific coach, they did not get a miracle worker or magician. The 46-year-old Daboll probably will be able to breathe some life into the Giants’ dormant offense, and that should be enough to squeeze out a few more wins than the Giants have had in recent years.
But his ultimate success, and the ceiling for his tenure, still depends on the answer to this question:
Just how good is quarterback Daniel Jones?
At the moment, the only correct answer is to shrug. Nothing he’s done so far in his three NFL seasons has pointed to a clear path in any direction. In fact, at every turn, he’s added more question marks to his present and future. He’s probably not as bad as some of those quarterbacks Daboll had with the Browns (2009-10), Dolphins (2011) and Chiefs (2012). But he’s also probably not as good as Allen, either.
The problem is that leaves a very wide gulf in between. And unless the Giants somehow decide to pick up Jones’ $21.4 million, fifth-year option for 2023, they really have only one year to find out on which side of the gulf Jones is destined to land.
Now, Daboll is likely going to say nice things about Jones when he’s introduced to the media on Monday morning. According to multiple sources, he is very high on the Giants’ quarterback and made that clear to both ownership and new GM Joe Schoen. And Schoen made it clear that he is a believer in Jones too, telling SNY, “I do think you can win with Daniel Jones,” as long as a better team can be built around him.
And there’s evidence to suggest their faith is justified. Remember back in 2019 when Jones was a rookie? He was pretty good that first year, even though his team wasn’t. He completed 61.9% of his passes for 3,027 yards, 24 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions in his 12 starts. His biggest issue was learning how to not fumble the football, which was seen as a very correctible flaw.
But then the Giants fired their head coach (Pat Shurmur), which meant a new offensive coordinator and new system for Jones in Year 2. And his offensive line somehow got worse, too. Still, Jones looked decent that year, right up until hamstring and ankle injuries hampered him the second half of his season. And then came last year, which included another change of offensive coordinator in the middle of the season and an offensive line that against all odds got even worse. The team around him was decimated by injuries, too. And then a mysterious neck injury cost him his final six games.
In other words, he looked good at the start, but has been in a tailspin ever since, possibly caused by the deteriorating circumstances around him. As Schoen said, “I don’t know how fair of a shot he’s been given with the lack of continuity.” Or, to put it another way, as Giants co-owner John Mara did, “We’ve done everything possible to screw this kid up.”
That’s certainly true, but it still doesn’t solve the mystery. Can Jones be a poor man’s Allen or is he destined to be a rich man’s Cassel, Quinn or Moore. If it’s the latter, the Daboll Era will be in trouble from the start.
Of course, it’s entirely possible Daboll is the right man to make Jones into something more than he’s been. Because as good Allen turned out to be, Daboll rightfully gets credit for having a huge hand in his development. When Allen came out in the 2018 NFL Draft, plenty of NFL people had him ranked as the fourth quarterback behind Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold and even Josh Rosen. He was a strong-armed kid who was often erratic and hadn’t exactly faced top competition playing for Wyoming in the Mountain West.
Daboll reined him in, molded his talent, and helped him become the top-five quarterback he is today. Meanwhile Schoen helped build the support system and the team around him. They both deserve some credit for how Allen turned out.
But none of it would have happened if Allen’s talent wasn’t there.
Is the talent there with Jones? It will certainly help that Schoen is likely to build a better Giants team and will focus on fixing the offensive line since, as he told SNY, “if you want to see Daniel Jones put his best foot forward, he’s got to be on his feet.” Maybe it’ll help if they bring a veteran who can maybe push Jones from behind, perhaps like Bills backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. Daboll’s scheme certainly looks a lot better for a quarterback than whatever it is Jason Garrett and Freddie Kitchens tried to run.
In the end, though, the future depends on Jones. If he’s good, the Giants’ ceiling goes higher. If he’s not, Schoen will be heavily scouting the quarterbacks in the 2023 draft, in search of someone who is more like Allen. Because the quarterback is still the key to everything, for every NFL coach. Yes, Daboll helped Allen look good, but Allen made Daboll looked great.
And no one is sure if Jones is capable of doing the same.
