Don’t look now, but New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones appears to be making that much-anticipated Year 3 leap.
While there are still areas of his game that must be cleaned up, the data does not lie. By any metric you choose, Jones is a top 10 — or even a top 5, in some cases — quarterback through four weeks of the season.
As things rest, Jones is seventh in the league in passing (1,184 yards), second in Pro Football Focus passing grade (88.0) and leads the NFL with a yards per carry average of 7.0.
The highest passing grades thru Week 4 👀 pic.twitter.com/jqkxrWSnH1
— PFF (@PFF) October 6, 2021
Analytically, things are no different for Jones. In addition to the PFF grades and EPA, Jones is also among the NFL’s most efficient quarterbacks on both early and late downs. Clean pocket vs. under pressure? Yep. Jones is also among the best in both scenarios.
Currently, Jones is No. 5 in the Beyesian Quarterback Rankings which combines value per play with PFF grades and EPA. He sits behind only Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Matthew Stafford and Kyler Murray.
Oh, Jones is also coming off the NFC Offensive Player of the Week Award for a Week 4 performance that saw him pass for a career-high 402 yards.
“I’m certainly grateful to be recognized and appreciate it. I think it says a lot about our offense and our team. We talked about Andrew [Thomas] – the whole team has to play well to score points and to gain a lot of yards, so I think it’s a credit to all those guys,” Jones told reporters on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old is modest, too.
If you continue digging on Jones, you’ll find even more. For example, he’s third in the NFL in average completed air yards (7.7). His completion percentage above expectation is +3.6, good for seventh-best in the NFL despite his receivers being among the league leaders in dropped passes (third-worst).
And Jones’ single hail mary interception? That also puts him among the league’s best (only Russell Wilson and Teddy Bridgewater are better).
Jones is currently on pace to throw for over 5,000 yards, which would place him among the top 15 (single-season) in NFL history. Combined with his rushing yards, DJ is on pace for over 5,800 total yards. That would be the most ever in the league’s long and storied history.
