When Pat Shurmur was at the helm for the New York Giants, he could ostensibly be blamed for starting the painful Daniel Jones era for the franchise. He was entering the second year of his tenure as Giants head coach in 2019 when Jones was drafted sixth overall and then made the decision to bench Eli Manning for the rookie two games into that season. The rest is, unfortunately, history.
The fingerprints of Jones' tenure that Shurmur helped to start in New York are all over the Giants offseason, specifically leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft. Despite already signing Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston in free agency, there remains speculation and rumors that the franchise could still select Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders with the third overall pick.
Coincidentally, though, Sanders is coming to the NFL after playing in Shurmur's offense at Colorado as the veteran is now the Buffaloes offensive coordinator. That obviously gives him a unique perspective, being objectively more familiar than most with the Giants and with Sanders. So when he was asked by Paul Schwartz from the New York Post ($) about the quarterback prospect, that should matter.
His comparison for Sanders should objectively terrify the Giants and the fan base, however.
Former Giants head coach Pat Shurmur compares Shedeur Sanders to Daniel Jones
Shurmur compared Sanders to, you guessed it, Daniel Jones. Now, it should be noted that Shurmur's comparison had little to do with their styles as players beyond calling them both great college players. Instead, he was complimentary of Sanders as a person and as a teammate, comparing that to what Jones displayed coming out of Duke.
While it's a silver lining that we're not talking about the style of player when it comes to Sanders, the absolute last thing any Giants fan wants to hear is that their potential new franchise quarterback is like Daniel Jones. It could be the fact that they both have dark hair, that's still going to set things off on the wrong foot with fans, without question.
Giants fans were subjected to Jones for longer than they should've been after New York signed him to a second contract. While they soon moved on thereafter, the fact that it wasn't a done deal at the end of the rookie contract was a failure on their part. Now, everyone wants to just move onto the new era, whatever that may be and whether or not that includes Sanders. Comparing him to Jones in any capacity only sets that further back.
Having said that, again, there should be some thanks that the two players are quite different. Jones is actually a far better athlete and runner than Sanders, but the Colorado product is far more polished of a passer. It's a drastically different playing style as a prospect, especially with Sanders as a high-floor player while Jones was, as a prospect, more of a high-ceiling prospect.
However, I feel safe speaking for Giants fans in saying that this better be the last of the Daniel Jones comparisons Sanders gets, especially if New York indeed does draft him. They're at capacity for all the Jones they can stomach in a lifetime.