Speeding along, the NFL's quarterback carousel has made for an already-eventful offseason though free agency hasn't yet begun.
Big names in different places and fresh faces leading franchises has been the theme.
It's not a notion Big Blue is entertaining, apparently though.
New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman and head coach Joe Judge were emphatic Tuesday in their support of quarterback Daniel Jones going forward as QB1.
"We've had Daniel for two years; we've done the evaluation on him and we really believe he's the guy. No reason to go look," Gettleman said, via team transcript, when asked if he was tempted to look at other options for the quarterback position. "What we're doing isn't fantasy football, we're not playing, we're not doing that. We've got a conviction on him, he's everything we want, he's got all the physical skills and again I say this all the time, the kid just finished his second year of ¹ú²úÍâÁ÷Íøfootball. How many of us after two years at our new job were great? No, we all start at point 'A' and we hopefully get to point 'Z,' but the one common denominator is it takes time. Everybody has to understand that. We believe in Daniel and that's where it is."
Posed with the question as to whether his stance on Jones had been altered with an abundance of talent at quarterback in the draft and the flurry of ¹ú²úÍâÁ÷Íøstarting quarterbacks changing places so far, Judge stood by Jones.
"No, it hasn't at all. It hasn't at all," Judge said. "Again, we have confidence in Daniel, he's a player that we want to work with going forward with this team. He's shown us a lot of improvement, there's a lot of things. I can go on and on about how we respect him and like him and how the locker room responds to him, but the simple answer to that is no."
Selected sixth in the 2019 ¹ú²úÍâÁ÷ÍøDraft, Jones has been mercurial in his two seasons. He ignited the fan base initially as a rookie before injuries and fumblitis quelled the excitement. Injuries and rocky play were once more prevalent in 2020, but Jones' worth to the team was brought into focus when the Giants surged into contention to take the NFC East title. They won four straight at one point before stumbling to a three-game losing streak as Jones battled injuries. The Duke product's numbers hardly sparkled, but he very much appeared to put his best foot forward in taking on a leadership role.
Statistics rarely lie, though, and Jones passed for 2,943 yards with 11 touchdowns to 10 interceptions in 14 starts. He showed promise with his legs, running to 423 yards, but he led the league in fumbles for the second consecutive season with 11 -- though it was an improvement from his 18 as a rookie.
In defense of the 23-year-old signal-caller, he had his second offense to learn and second head coach in as many seasons and each season was played with Saquon Barkley gone for the majority of the campaign.
"In terms of Daniel, like every other player and every coach, we all have things we have to improve on and take strides forward in this year," Judge said. "That's no different for any player on our roster or any player in the league really."
At the quarterback position and amid this offseason, it is different. Windows close a lot faster and the maturation process is expected to be a lot quicker.
The Giants know Jones must improve, but they're sticking with their guy and that was the message sent by Judge and Gettleman on Tuesday.
