Giants' win over Commanders further illustrates that Daniel Jones is not the long-term answer at QB

The Giants defeated the Washington Commanders, 31-19, on Sunday, and in a weird twist, angered the majority of their fanbase.

Entering the week at 2-8, Big Blue sat second in the NFL Draft standings. The win dropped New York to fifth, which could take them out of the race for the draft's top two quarterbacks: Caleb Williams and Drake Maye.

Make no mistake about it: The Giants will be in the market for a new quarterback. If the team’s brain trust was paying attention Sunday, it would have one clear, franchise-altering takeaway: Daniel Jones absolutely is not the long-term answer at quarterback.

Tommy DeVito did something Jones hasn't done since 2019

The Giants’ third-string quarterback, New Jersey’s own Tommy DeVito, completed 18 of his 26 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns.

In his second career start, DeVito became the first Giants quarterback to throw for three touchdowns since... 2019 (which sounds crazy, but it’s true). It underlines just how inept the Giants offense has been over the last five years.

The last time Jones threw three or more passing touchdowns in a game was Dec. 22, 2019, his rookie season. Jones has made 48 starts since and has not thrown more than two passing touchdowns in any of those games. The Duke product has thrown for three or more touchdowns just three times in his career, all of which were in his year with the team.

For reference, one of New York's biggest rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, saw quarterback Dak Prescott do it in three straight games this season.

New York's offense produces at a higher clip without Jones

The previous stat was concerning, but this one is even worse. This season, Jones completed 108 of his 160 pass attempts for 909 yards, two touchdowns, and six interceptions.

Tyrod Taylor and DeVito, his two backups, have combined to complete 106 of their 167 pass attempts for eight touchdowns to just three interceptions. It's a serious problem when a journeyman quarterback and an undrafted rookie have produced at a higher level than the $40 million a year starter.

In the six games Jones started this season, Big Blue averages 11.3 points per game. The offense failed to score a first-half touchdown in all six. The Giants defense scored in the first half against Miami, and that single play – a pick-six by safety Jason Pinnock – resulted in more points than the offense put up in half of Jones' starts this season.

When Jones doesn't start, New York averages 16.2 points per game – nearly a touchdown more.

New York is more explosive offensively without Jones

With limited playmakers on the 2022 roster, the Giants rarely took shots down the field, which was understandable. Throughout Jones' career, the inability or seeming unwillingness to push the ball down the field has been a recurrent theme.

This season, Jones is averaging the fewest yards per attempt among the three quarterbacks and the shortest average depth of target.

Despite attempting nearly double the passes Taylor has, New York's starter has been credited with just four Big Time Throws, while Taylor has seven (Pro Football Focus’ Big Time Throws stat is "a pass with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window.”) If you break it down even further, just 2.4 percent of Jones' passes the season have been Big Time Throws.

In Sunday's game alone, the DeVito-led offense had six 20-yard plays. In the modern NFL, explosive plays are what win games. Despite being sacked nine times (poor offensive line play is the No. 1 excuse tossed around the Jones conversation), DeVito pushed the ball down the field.

Big Blue's offense has struggled for much of Jones' career. The Giants coaches and offensive linemen have taken the majority of the criticism for the poor offensive outputs, but after watching an undrafted rookie in his second start outperform your supposed franchise quarterback, it should be fairly obvious the Giants have a pressing need for a new lead man under center.