There were many who didn't like the Giants picking Daniel Jones sixth overall in last year's NFL Draft (yours truly was among them). But there were some, like NBC Sports' Chris Simms, who went as far to say that Jones was comparable to the Giants' last Duke quarterback taken in the first round, Dave Brown.

If you don't remember Brown, let's just say it was a terrible pick.

But Jones didn't fall into that category in the slightest. When he took over in Week 3 against the Buccaneers, the Giants had faith he would prove everyone wrong. And he did just that by starting the rest of the season, showcasing his talents and leading the Giants offense in a way that reassured ownership and everyone else within the organization that they got the pick right.

So Simms had to apologize to Jones while putting together his Top 40 quarterbacks in the NFL list, with Jones coming in at No. 22.

"Yes, I crapped on him during the draft process and he crapped on me repeatedly during the 2019 season and said, 'you're wrong, Chris Simms.' And I am. I was wrong. I misevaluated him in the draft," Simms said during Pro Football Talk Live via 247 Sports.

The knocks on Jones' game were everything from his "average arm" to his interception-touchdown ratio that didn't scream Top 10 pick. However, the Giants defied those skeptics and went with their gut.

"Listen, I'm not going to lie. I fell into a trap that I told myself I wouldn't fall into before," Simms said. "...A little bit like Dak Prescott where I put some of the struggles of the team and the offense and Daniel Jones maybe not being the sexiest guy to watch at times. I put all of those problems on him and that wasn't fair coming out of Duke.

"What we saw last year was a guy that was thrown into the lineup and from Day One -- The running game's not great, Saquon Barkley is not 100 percent, we don't have a ton of talent at receiver -- but Daniel, we'd like you to carry the offense. He had some really bright moments last year."

Simms even went as far as to tell NJ.com's Zack Rosenblatt in May that Jones was the Giants' MVP in a down season.

"Daniel Jones doesn't have to compete against anyone on that team or on that roster," he said. "Anyone who is on that roster, I can just tell you: He's better than them. Daniel Jones, he was the MVP of the Giants last year, to me. It's not even close."

Of course, there were struggles for Jones, and he's working hard to fix those this offseason. His sophomore season -- under a new head coach in Joe Judge and offensive coordinator in Jason Garrett -- is expected to be a positive one as he hopefully has healthy weapons around him and a better mind for how the NFL works.

If it is another step in the right direction in Year 2, maybe more doubters will be put to rest. It only took a year of watching Jones for Simms to retract his thoughts.

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