5 reasons Giants can win with Daniel Jones in 2020

2. The numbers

No, numbers never truly tell the entire story. Very rarely would stats be the absolute reason to support someone’s play. Instead, stats help strengthen the overall cause. For Jones, his stats bolster the hope for a high potential.

In 13 total games, Jones threw 24 touchdowns with 12 interceptions and 3,027 yards. His completion percentage was just below 62 percent, and he ran for 279 yards with two scores. If he started more than 12 games, his numbers would’ve been even stronger. Those 24 touchdown throws led all rookies.

Considering what Jones was working with, his performance in his first season should be talked about more. He was constantly evading the pocket and throwing in the face of pressure, and the talent around him was not necessarily noteworthy.

Jones only had 1,408 yards after the catch, which is the fault of the play calling and lack of a true game-breaking threat at receiver. The offense seemed to lack innovation, as Jones ran the RPO decently with 297 yards off that design, but he and the Giants saw limited production on play action.

Essentially, Jones finished with good numbers playing in an offense with no identity.

To be fair, Jones was a rather inaccurate passer. According to his quarterback grid via Next Gen stats, he was mostly an average passer last year. He was tied for 18th in “poor throws” (80), tied for 15th in percentage of bad throws per attempt (17.9 percent) and 29th in on-target pass percentage (71.1 percent).

So, there’s quite a bit to unpack when breaking down the numbers. On the surface, Jones did have a strong overall body of work. However, when you dig deeper, you find a rookie who dealt with accuracy issues while staring down pass rushers all season.

Again, as somewhat talked about already, some of these downfalls can be attributed to the lack of talent. With better players and more understanding and work, Jones can build off a steady statistical rookie campaign.