If quarterback Daniel Jones continues to struggle with turnovers this season, the Giants will have a tough decision to make on him next offseason: Keep him or trade him?
The Giants will have to make that choice because Jones’ lucrative fifth-year option for 2023 becomes fully guaranteed if the Giants exercise it next offseason. This is why the Jets traded Sam Darnold to the Panthers after Year 3, instead of picking up his option. And the Jets, of course, then wound up drafting Zach Wilson second overall, to replace Darnold.
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So might the Giants do the same thing next offseason, if Jones keeps struggling?
Trent Dilfer, at least, doesn’t think they should.
“I think the intangible makeup is going to be very hard to replace,” Dilfer told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday. “So for that, no, I would not. Daniel can be really good if they get really good. That’s what I would say about Daniel: ‘I’m very bullish on Daniel Jones if … ‘ And the ‘if’ is: Do they continue to get significantly better up front on the offensive line? I think they have the skill guys now to be pretty darn good. But they’ve got to get better up front.”
Dilfer — who won a Super Bowl after the 2000 season, when his Ravens beat the Giants — compared Jones’ situation to what the Jets just did with Darnold and Wilson.
“I like Zach Wilson,” Dilfer said. “But I couldn’t understand where Zach Wilson was an upgrade from Sam Darnold. And I would say the same thing here. Are you moving on for a P.R. reason? Or are you moving on for a win-loss reason? It’s going to be hard to find, in this next draft, a guy as talented and as hardened as Daniel.
“Daniel’s gift isn’t just his talent. He’s a talented player, but he’s not uber-talented. He’s not Lamar Jackson. He’s not Trevor Lawrence. He doesn’t have any wow factor to his talent. But he’s the whole package. He’s a great leader. He’s smart. He’s tough. This turnover thing, when he gets over it, will only make him more resilient. He’s got a lot of Eli [Manning] in him, and Eli won two Super Bowls.”
Dilfer said the Giants’ challenge now with Jones is “getting better around him. I lived it. I was terrible when we were terrible. I was pretty good when we were good. Not great, but solid. And I think Daniel can be better than that.”
But turnovers remain an issue for Jones, who lost a fumble in the season-opening loss to the Broncos. In 28 career games, Jones has 40 turnovers — 22 interceptions and 18 lost fumbles.
“I think fumblers are fumblers, and I was one,” Dilfer said. “So I speak from experience. When you try to do too much, you don’t train ball security, you continue to turn the ball over. It’s something that has to be addressed every aspect of every day in practice before it’s fixed. It has to be on the forefront of your thinking. I’m guessing they’re doing that.
“I do believe he’ll fix it. But he’s got to endure not just the workload of trying to fix it, but then the narrative around it, when it continues to happen. It’s really hard for a young quarterback, because it’s like pouring rubbing alcohol on an open wound. It just stings every time you make a mistake that hurts your team.
“And then you’ve got to hear about it from the world all the time. Unfortunately, until he gets over it, the amount of people that just want to make this the headliner every time he plays really is challenging for a young player.”
Dilfer, who doesn’t know Jones, said he’d offer him this encouragement: “Listen, bro, if you can get through this — which you will — there’s not a mountain in the NFL you can’t climb. You’ve gone through this in the Big Apple. It doesn’t get any harder. This is bigger than Mark Sanchez getting through the Butt Fumble. You get through this, you can get through anything.”
Of course, the Giants need consistent offensive line play to help Jones. And Dilfer said the Giants’ line, which didn’t play that poorly against the Broncos, still makes him “uneasy.” Dilfer said a bad offensive line limits what an offensive coordinator can call.
“I think it puts the play caller in a really, really hard situation,” Dilfer said. “I lived it as a quarterback. It’s going to be interesting to watch the Giants’ offensive play calling, and see if they’re trying to protect their offensive line, instead of just staying aggressive.”
But Dilfer said Jones’ new, big-bodied wide receiver, Kenny Golladay, will be a major asset for his development.
“I think what a lot of the NFL has come down to in the passing game — and in big moments — is [pass rush] pressures you really can’t pick up,” Dilfer said. “So you have to immediately find your one-on-one matchup, with your alpha against the defense’s alpha. I’ve never seen so much pick-and-stick football, meaning: ‘Hey, I’ve got to pick a guy and let it fly, because we have a protection issue and they’ve brought some elaborate blitz.’
“It wasn’t always like that. It’s incredible how much it’s like that right now. I think you need a dude more than you’ve ever needed a dude before, for those reasons. You’ve got to have that guy. Even more than speed, in today’s football, you need the contested catch guy.”
Dilfer is currently promoting Panini America, the exclusive trading card partner of the NFL and NFLPA. He has a weekly Dilfer’s Dimes film breakdown series on his Twitter account, and also on the Panini America account. Plus, Dilfer is participating in Panini’s Super Bowl kid reporter sweepstakes again this season. Go to PaniniKidReporter.com for more information.
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Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com.
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