New York Giants: Daniel Jones enters proving ground with Saquon Barkley out
With their star running out for at least a month, the New York Giants now have the opportunity to see the full potential of Daniel Jones.
Daniel Jones has given the New York Giants and their fans something to look forward to on football Sundays now. He put on a stellar performance in his first start against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He put the cherry on top of his awesome game by scoring the game-winning touchdown, giving the Giants the 32-31 win.
Giants players and fans rejoiced, as they obtained their first win of the season and now have faith that Jones can become the quarterback of the future for Big Blue.
However, that win came with a heavy cost as their other young star, running back Saquon Barkley, suffered a high ankle sprain early in the game. He was in a walking boot and reports now say that he will miss 4-8 weeks. With the Giants’ bye week coming in Week 11, it is likely they play it safe and hold him out for the entire eight-week period.
Even though they will be without their generational talent in the backfield, this is a great opportunity for New York and Daniel Jones. The ball will solely be in his hands now and he will have the chance to show what he is made of during the projected eight-week stretch.
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He won’t have the talents of Barkley to fall back on, so Danny Dimes will have the weight of the offense on his shoulders. This is him time to prove to everyone why the G-Men drafted him No. 6 overall.
Jones showed us a glimpse of what he is capable of in Week 3, throwing for 336 yards and having four total touchdowns (two passing, two rushing). His performance earned him NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors, which has everyone in New York even more excited for what Jones can offer for the remainder of the season.
The Giants never want a cornerstone piece like Barkley to be out for any amount of time, but the timing seems somewhat perfect for where the team is at. Sitting at 1-2 and with a rookie quarterback at the helm, it is now the time for Pat Shurmur to let Jones loose and throw the ball.
No offense to second-string running back Wayne Gallman, but the Giants can’t rely on the run game as much as they can with Barkley. He isn’t the same back as Barkley and their defense is abysmal, especially in the passing game. With the ineptitude of New York’s secondary, Jones will likely be playing from behind often.
With those factors, the Giants have no choice but to throw the ball. Jones will be forced to be into an offensive shootout, which allows him to showcase his talents. He has started to find chemistry with tight end Evan Engram and, after Week 4, he will have Golden Tate returning from suspension. Now he will have to operate behind an offensive line that has lacked consistency, but he has shown the ability to make plays despite that against the Bucs.
The Giants and Jones will be going up against some strong teams during Barkley’s absence. Some of the teams they will be facing include the New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys.
Each of these teams has a strong defensive unit, so this will be a good test for Jones. Going up against top-tier defenses will assess his growth as a quarterback since he was brought to the Big Apple in April. It will be interesting to see if he can decipher these defenses and find their weaknesses.
Not to mention, the offenses of the teams mentioned aren’t too shabby either. It was mentioned before that Jones will need to turn these games into shootouts, so it will be interesting to see if he can keep up with the likes of Tom Brady, Kirk Cousins, and Dak Prescott and Matthew Stafford.
The offense is centered around Jones for at least the next month because of Barkley’s injury, so Shurmur should take the training wheels off and let the first-year quarterback show him his true potential.
The New York Giants made the decision to start Daniel Jones and there is no turning back from that now. After one regular-season game, he has made general manager David Gettleman look like he knew what he was doing when he selected him in the top 10 in the draft. With Saquon Barkley out for an extended period of time, Jones now has the keys to the offense and everything will go through him.
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He gave the Giants some hope for the rest of this season with how he played in Week 3, even after Barkley got injured. If he plays well during this stretch of games, there will be even more hope and excitement from the Giants brass and fans.
It will be the Danny Dimes Show in New York and he will have to throw the G-Men to success, as his supporting cast around him (specifically on defense) is subpar, to say the least. This is his time to show what he is made of, and give the Giants and their fans insight of what they can expect from him for the foreseeable future.