Is starting Daniel Jones the right decision?
By John Buhler
It’s now the Daniel Jones era in the Big Apple. Is the former Duke quarterback ready to lead the New York Giants? Should the Giants trade Eli Manning?
After nearly 15 years at the helm, Eli Manning will no longer be the starting quarterback for the New York Giants. New York is 0-2 on the year and has looked like the worst team in the NFC up to this point. Giants head coach Pat Shurmur made the switch ahead of Week 3’s road game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in having rookie Daniel Jones start over Manning going forward.
But is this the right decision for the G-Men? On this week’s episode of Stacking the Box, FanSided’s Matt Verderame and Josh Hill, along with former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz tackled that subject, as well as if the Giants should trade Manning before the deadline.
With this being the biggest news of the day in the NFL, the guys get right to it and decide that going with Jones over Manning is indeed the right decision for the Giants going forward (0:55). New York drafted Jones No. 6 overall in this past spring’s draft to be Manning’s eventual successor. With the way Manning was playing, this quarterback change was only a matter of time.
Schwartz would say, “this is a decision they had to make because the Giants are going nowhere”. The offense looks anemic with Manning running it and the defense is equally as bad. With playoff aspirations this year only being a pipe dream, New York had no choice but to make the change with the Giants did. Otherwise, they would be wasting everybody’s time in not developing Jones.
With Jones now the starter, there are three options for Manning: he could retire as a career Giant, he could serve as a mentor backing up Jones or he could get traded. But is that even a real possibility? Who could want Manning’s services at this point, being that he is a shell of his former self?
While a potential landing spot for him with the Jacksonville Jaguars is on the table, given that Manning’s former head coach Tom Coughlin is the Jacksonville’s executive vice president of football operations and the Jaguars lost their starter Week 1 when Nick Foles broke his clavicle, Schwartz and Verderame have no interest in seeing Manning playing down in Duval County (3:17).
What is the point of Manning playing for anybody else when his legacy is written in New York? Going to Jacksonville for a conditional seventh-round pick helps no one. Odds are that the consummate professional that Manning is will be a great mentor for his successor in Jones now that his role with the team has changed.
Other topics discussed on Stacking the Box this week include:
- Can Mason Rudolph lead the Steeler to the playoffs? (6:46)
- Will Antonio Brown be on the Patriots roster when the playoffs start? (22:15)
- Is Patrick Mahomes better this year than in his MVP season? (29:40)
- Will Taysom Hill start over Teddy Bridgewater? (34:23)
All this and more!
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