How Daniel Jones went from punchline to potential cornerstone for the Giants 

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

What changed in New York to put the Giants in the playoffs, and Jones on the brink of a new contract

Prior to the start of the 2022 NFL regular season Joe Schoen, the new general manager of the New York Giants, shared his outlook for the season with the media.

It was a somewhat brutal assessment.

Speaking about the upcoming year, Schoen said rather matter-of-factly “[w]e’re just trying to get through today. The situation we’re in is the situation. It’s the hand we were dealt. We’re going to do the best we can.”

Schoen’s comments reflected the situation he inherited taking over the Giants. When he was hired, the roster needed upgrades on both sides of the football, but he first needed to clear around $40 million in cap space just so he could sign New York’s incoming draft class. Speaking with Peter King of NBC Sports, the new GM outlined the task in front of him:

Schoen told me Saturday he’ll have to clear out $40 million from a bloated and mismanaged salary cap this spring.

“When we first got to Buffalo,” said Schoen, “we had $55 million in dead cap money we had to manage. We had a plan there, and we’ll have one here. We may have to make some decisions that hurt, but I do not want to kick the can down the road with the cap. I want to get it fixed.”

Also on his to-do list?

Figuring out what to do with quarterback Daniel Jones.

Because Jones’ fifth-year option was coming due, and a decision on how to handle that final year of his rookie deal loomed over the start of Schoen’s tenure. In April, the organization announced that they would decline the fifth-year option, making 2022 a make-or-break season for the quarterback.

That led to a training camp filled with questions regarding his future, and debates over if — or when — backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor would take over under center.

Fast-forward a few months. Instead of the Giants finishing in position to draft a quarterback at the top of the 2023 NFL Draft, as many expected, New York is in the playoffs. A roster that was filled with questions is instead playing on Wild Card Weekend, and new head coach Brian Daboll is among the favorites for Coach of the Year honors.

As for Jones? Instead of wondering who the Giants are going to draft at the top of the first round this spring, now fans are wondering what kind of extension Jones will receive in the offseason, or if the team will use the franchise tag on the quarterback.

Quite the journey.

To put Jones’s season into context, we can start with some numbers. Here is how Jones performed a year ago, when Expected Points Added per Play, and Completion Percentage Over Expectation are measured:

Jones placed in the bottom-left quadrant, meaning he was below average in both categories. He was in a little cluster along with Baker Mayfield and Ben Roethlisberger, not the best company to have during 2021.

Jones ranked 24th among quarterbacks in the EPA+CPOE composite, which is a good look at quarterback efficiency.

Now, his 2022 campaign:

Here we see Jones in the upper-right quadrant, which is where you want to be as a passer. He is clustered with Trevor Lawrence, Jacoby Brissett, and Joe Burrow, which is much better company to have this season.

In terms of his EPA+CPOE Composite, Jones improved to 12th in the NFL, ahead of quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert, and Tom Brady.

Finally, Jones threw just five interceptions this year, for an Interception Percentage of just 1.1%, the lowest mark of his career, and the best among passers this season.

How did this happen?

As we will see, some minor improvements in a few different areas, coupled with a few schematic elements, put Jones on a path to resurgence. In some cases, the improvement was really minor, but to paraphrase Gus Sinski from For Love of the Game, sometimes a lot of little things can add up to a really big thing.

Thriving when pressured

Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

One of the more notable aspects of Jones’s NFL career, even before this season, was how he has improved over the years at handling pressure in the pocket. As a rookie in 2019, Jones posted an Adjusted Completion Percentage (ACP) according to Pro Football Focus of 63.8%, which was 17th among qualified passers (defined as QBs with 20% of a team’s dropbacks).

During the 2020 season, that number ticked up slightly, to 64.6%.

But last season saw a big jump from Jones in this area. During the 2021 campaign, Jones posted an ACP of 71.6% when pressured, which was fifth-best in the NFL among qualified passers. That put him ahead of QBs like Joe Burrow, Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert, Josh Allen, and Patrick Mahomes.

That upward trend continued this season. This year, Jones had an ACP of 75.6% when under pressure in the pocket, second only to Ryan Tannehill on the year. He completed 55.6% of his passes on the year when facing pressure — fourth-best among QBs — for 1,055 yards and 6 touchdowns, against a single interception.

Part of this success when pressured comes from Jones’s athleticism — which we will get to in a moment — but he also showed the ability to simply create space in his pocket, maintaining composure in the face of pressure, and finding a target downfield.

On this completion against the Carolina Panthers in Week 2, Jones uses his feet to create space in a collapsing pocket. But as he does so, he keeps his eyes trained downfield, allowing him to find David Sills settling down against zone coverage:

The completion turns a 3rd and 10 into a fresh set of downs for the Giants.

Another example comes from the Giants’ game against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 16. Again, you will see Jones simply use his feet to create space in the pocket, before hitting Darius Slayton on a crossing route for a 22-yard gain:

Both of these plays are great examples of a QB’s “feel” in the pocket. Particularly on the second play, you can see how Jones feels that pressure off the right edge, but keeps his eyes downfield while moving to create space. On the end zone angle of that play, you can notice how Jones never drops his eyes, or even looks at the pressure. He knows it is coming, but it does not impact him as he moves to create space and give himself time to find Slayton.

That ability under pressure has been huge for New York this year. Life in an NFL pocket is tough, and handling pressure is a big part of the job. A part of the job where Jones has impressed this season.

Staring down the blitz

Let’s take the pressure component of life as a QB a step further.

As a quarterback, you should want to get blitzed. It is an opportunity to punish the defense with a big play, provided you trust the protection in front of you, get your eyes where they need to be, and make a good throw.

During both 2020 and 2021, however, Jones was shaky at best when blitzed. During the 2020 season, he posted an ACP of just 71.0% when blitzed, ranking him 33rd in the NFL among qualified passers. That number ticked up slightly in 2021, as his 72.8% ACP ranked him 20th among qualified passers. In both years, Jones threw four interceptions when blitzed, and in 2021 just one touchdown pass came when Jones was blitzed by an opposing defense.

This season? Jones completed 67.9% of his throws for 1,037 yards and 5 touchdowns when blitzed, against just a pair of interceptions.

And his ACP of 84.6% when pressured this year?

It led all qualified passers.

How has Jones done this? By maintaining his composure in the face of pressure — as just outlined — taking what the blitzes give him, and punishing the defense when he has chances.

Take this play from Week 17 against the Indianapolis Colts. The defense shows Jones two-high safeties before the snap, but as the play begins, they walk into a single-high structure, and as the ball is snapped, the linebacker blitzes on the interior. He has a free run at Jones, but watch as the QB calmly takes the snap, gets his eyes to Richie James on the slant route, and replaces the blitz with the ball:

This is great execution from the quarterback.

But perhaps my favorite play from Jones this season came in Week 16, against the Vikings defense he will see this weekend. Minnesota brings a slot blitz, and again a defender has a free run at the QB. Jones, however, does not panic, and delivers a beautiful throw on a double-move:

What’s to love about this play? What’s not? Once more you see that feel from Jones, as he keeps his eyes on the route from Isaiah Hodgins the entire time. Yet, he knows the blitz is bearing down on him, because he speeds things up slightly in the pocket. He does not pump fake on the hitch from Hodgins, instead taking every available second to prepare for the throw.

A fantastic play.

Now we can dive into some schematic elements to the Giants’ offense this season, that have also led to improvement from Jones.

Success on play-action concepts

“They should use play-action more.”

That has become another crutch in the football-analysis world for people like me, up there with “that defense just needs to get pressure with four” and “they just cannot turn the football over this Sunday.” An easy bit of analysis that one can conjure up to explain how a coach can get improved play from a quarterback.

(Glares at Matt Patricia.)

But enough about my own frustration with the New England Patriots this season.

There are examples were an uptick in play-action usage can pay off for an offense, and a quarterback. The 2022 New York Giants are one such example. Last season, according to charting date from Pro Football Focus, 31.4% of Jones’s passing attempts came on play-action concepts. He ranked 14th in the NFL among qualified passers on those designs with an ACP of 79.2%.

This year? Play-action concepts made up 34% of his plays, which was sixth-most in the NFL. So the Giants leaned into play-action a little bit more. But how did Jones do on those concepts? According to PFF’s charting, his ACP on play-action in 2022 was 83.8%, fifth-best in the NFL among qualified passers. Even more notable was the fact that Jones’s completion percentage jumped 11.7% when using play-action, the fifth-highest increase in the NFL.

Some may point to the presence of a healthy Saquon Barkley as a reason for this success, but the main reason was how Daboll and offensive coordinator — and play-caller — Mike Kafka implemented play-action this year. By picking spots situationally, and using designs that mirrored their run game well, Kafka put Jones in position to have success on play-action.

Take this play from Week 10 against the Houston Texans. The Giants face 2nd and 12, and use 12 personnel, putting a pair of tight ends in the game. As a defense, you might be thinking run, given the situation and the personnel. Perhaps Kafka is trying to get into a more manageable third down. Houston responds accordingly, as they have bigger personnel in the game, using four down linemen and three linebackers.

Instead, Jones fakes a handoff to Barkley, and finds a wide-open Slayton on a crossing route:

This is a great example of a coach using the situation, and personnel, against the defense. As noted, Kafka puts a pair of tight ends in the game on 2nd and 12, an indication to the defense that perhaps they are looking to get into a more manageable third down. Houston responds with 4-3 personnel, but instead, Jones takes to the air. Linebackers crash downhill, and Slayton is wide open.

Here is another example, this time from Week 5 against the Green Bay Packers. On this play, the Giants show outside zone, but Jones boots out of the fake to Barkley before finding Slayton again on a crossing route:

Something else notable about this play?

The Giants have not been a great outside zone team this year. According to data from Sports Info Solutions, the Giants averaged just 2.8 yards per attempt when using outside zone this year, last in the NFL. New York posted an EPA per attempt of -0.29 when using outside zone this season, against last in the NFL.

But this looks like run, the defense reacts like it is a run, and it creates an opportunity for Jones to hit on a big play downfield.

Remember that the next time the “you have to have a great running game to run play-action” discussion surfaces.

Now let’s move on to the last area of discussion.

Daniel Jones: Offensive weapon

John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

Perhaps the biggest change schematically for the Giants offense this season has been the use of Jones as a weapon. One of the more interesting trends across the NFL over the past few years has been the use of quarterbacks in the running game. As defenses evolve, and play with lighter boxes and more two-deep coverages to contain the passing game, offenses are using the quarterback more in the run game to take advantage of the numbers in the box.

Consider this. According to charting data from Sports Info Solutions, the top eight players in EPA/Rushing Attempt (EPA/RA) this year were quarterbacks. Some of those are certainly scrambles, which can be huge for an offense, but some are also designed runs.

As for Jones, his EPA/RA of 0.25 was sixth-best in the NFL this season, behind Patrick Mahomes, Justin Fields, Russell Wilson, Kenny Picket, and Jalen Hurts.

Sports Info Solutions also tracks these numbers by concept. According to their data, Jones posted an EPA/RA of 0.48 on quarterback scrambles this year, which was fourth-best among QBs. Only Mahomes, Fields, and Josh Allen were better.

They also track how quarterbacks fare on designed runs. According to their charting data, Jones had 33 such attempts this year, and he gained 248 yards — averaging 7.5 yards per attempt – and scored 3 touchdowns.

That was good for an EPA/RA of 0.38 on designed runs, best among QBs. And that average of 7.5 per attempt was second among quarterbacks, behind only Lamar Jackson.

Those numbers might not make it a surprise that Jones had 120 rushing attempts this year, the most in a single season over his four-year career, and nearly double his previous high of 65 set back in 2020.

Many of these designed runs were zone read designs, giving Jones options on a given play. On this example from Week 7 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Giants run this concept out of a “pony” package, with two running backs in the backfield. Jones puts the ball in Barkley’s belly and reads the defensive end, but when Dawuane Smoot crashes down, he pulls and keeps the football around the right end.

The other element on this play comes from the other running back, Matt Breida. As Jones and Barkley meet at the mesh point in the backfield, Breida releases to the edge, and serves as a blocker for the QB if, or when, he keeps the ball:

By releasing Breida to the edge, he is in position to block the cornerback, and Jones now has a three-man convoy to the edge. The result? A 12-yard gain for the offense.

Here is another variation of this design, from Week 14 against the Philadelphia Eagles:

This time, the Giants bring Slayton into a wing next to the tight end, and run Jones into the boundary. The Eagles slide pass rusher Haason Reddick inside just before the snap, bringing safety Marcus Epps down over the tight end.

That makes the decision even easier for Jones. He meets Barkley at the mesh point, pulls the football, and skips around the right edge for a 12-yard gain.

But this last design in the QB run game from New York is my favorite. Against the Colts in Week 17, the Giants show a pin-pull design to both sides of the formation. On the right side, where the Giants have a three-receiver bunch, Slayton and James block down (the pin element) while tight end Nick Vannett pulls to the outside. If Jones hands the ball off to Barkley, the RB will have Vannett leading him to the edge.

On the left side of the offense, a similar convoy is set up for the QB. Left guard Nick Gates blocks down, allowing center Jon Feliciano to pull outside. Hodges, the single WR on that side of the field, blocks down on the defensive end, which enables left tackle Andrew Thomas to pull as well:

Jones keeps, picks up the convoy in front of him, and scampers into the end zone with an 18-yard touchdown run:

These improvements from Jones this season, both big and small, have added up to something massive for New York. The Giants are in the playoffs for the first time since 2016, back when Ben McAdoo was their head coach and Eli Manning was their starting quarterback.

The improvements have also changed the narrative on Jones. Instead of wondering who the Giants might draft next spring, the focus has changed to questions over the kind of contract the QB might sign this offseason to stay in New York. According to recent reporting, Jones and the Giants are closing in on a “multi-year” contract extension.

Something that seemed far-fetched back in the summer.

Then again, so did a playoff berth.