The offense has been tailored to accentuate Jones’ skills as an underrated dual-threat playmaker with a high football IQ and adequate passing skills. Jones has been dogged by doubters since the moment he went No. 6 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft, but the quarterback boasts prototypical size (6-foot-5, 230 pounds), and he displayed underrated playmaking skills throughout his time at Duke. Jones finished his career in Durham as a three-year starter who piled up 8,201 passing yards, 1,323 rushing yards and 69 total touchdowns (52 pass, 17 rush) in 36 career starts. Playing under the direction of David Cutcliffe at Duke, Jones operated an offense that blended traditional runs with zone-read plays and RPOs to take advantage of his athleticism. In addition, the Blue Devils implemented a variety of dropback concepts and movement passes that featured simple reads for the quarterback despite a complex appearance.
Studying the Giants’ game tape this season — Year 1 for Daboll and Co. — it is apparent New York has blended some of Jones’ favorite college concepts into the game plan. The fourth-year pro is completing a career-best 66.7 percent of his passes thanks to a call sheet featuring more quick-rhythm throws and RPOs. In addition, New York is incorporating more designed QB runs to take advantage of Jones’ running skills. The reigning NFC Player of the Week rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown on just 11 carries vs. the Jaguars, picking up chunk gains on a variety of keepers and scrambles. On the season, Jones is averaging a career-high 49.0 ground yards per game — for comparison, that’s higher than Jalen Hurts‘ average (48.8). Jones’ scheduled and impromptu runs have added a dimension to Big Blue’s offense that forces opponents to commit a defender to spy the quarterback on a regular basis.
The Giants will call some intermediate and deeper throws on traditional drops, but Jones has become a winning quarterback due to the team putting him in his comfort zone. With concepts that are friendlier to his skill set, the young field general has drastically cut down on his mistakes and turnovers. Over his first three NFL campaigns, Jones racked up 49 giveaways, averaging just over 16 per season. Nearly halfway through this season, he has two picks and two fumbles.
Taking all that into account, yes, I believe the Giants have to keep Jones on board as the QB1, with the wins piling up and the team gaining confidence with No. 8 under center. From a contract standpoint, it is hard to pinpoint the sweet spot for a mid-level quarterback still growing into the position. Considering the going rate for elite quarterbacks has now eclipsed $40 million per year — with Aaron Rodgers even surpassing the $50 million mark — the Giants might want to consider utilizing a tag option to find the right price point for the fourth-year vet.
According to PFF, applying the exclusive franchise tag to Jones would cost the Giants a projected $45.5 million. That’s too pricey for this player. But the non-exclusive franchise tag (a projected $31.5 million) and transition tag (a projected $28 million) could serve as more realistic starting points for any negotiation. Whether the team elects to pay Jones on a year-to-year basis or sign him to a short-term extension (three years or fewer), the going rate suggests that New York’s QB1 will earn around $30 million annually if he stays with the team.
But the Giants also need to determine how to keep Barkley in the fold, as the 2018 Offensive Rookie of the Year has re-emerged as a superstar at the position. In 2022, the dynamic running back shows no ill effects from the series of lower-body injuries that significantly diminished his production over the previous three seasons. Currently ranking second in the league in rushing yards (726) while averaging 5.1 yards per attempt and 103.7 rush yards per game, Barkley has produced six runs of 20-plus yards. The explosiveness and big-play ability from the 6-foot, 232-pound runner have prompted Giants coaches to show more patience with the running game when it gets off to a slow start. Instead of abandoning the ground attack if opponents have Barkley under wraps in the first half, New York continues to feed the five-star playmaker and wait for him to eventually break out.
Against the Jags, Big Blue’s most explosive offensive weapon followed that script to another 100-yard day. After hitting a wall of defenders for most of three quarters, Barkley broke free in the fourth quarter for a series of runs that salted away the game and put him over the century mark. Witnessing this from the sidelines as the Jaguars’ radio field analyst, I was taken back to my playing days when we used to go up against Barry Sanders. The Hall of Fame back would follow up a series of negative runs or minimal gains with a long-distance touchdown scamper that instantly changed the momentum of the game.