How they move on from Daniel Jones will define the next few years for the New York Giants, but that decision will have more immediate implications for head coach Brian Daboll.
He’s under pressure, along with general manager Joe Schoen, for how they’ve handled the whole Jones fiasco. The pair can flip the narrative if they select Alabama’s Jalen Milroe in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft.
It’s an idea from Ian Valentino of The 33rd Team. He cited Milroe’s “inconsistent accuracy and field vision,” but Valentino believes “it’s easier to justify taking Jalen Milroe if the New York Giants keep Brian Daboll as the head coach.”
What makes this scenario so complicated is Valentino’s acknowledgement “Milroe isn’t a lock to enter the 2025 class.” So why bother even considering the 21-year-old, right?
Well, because “the need for quarterbacks is so high, and Milroe can do things that only a few others on Earth can. If he declares, he’ll go high and will require patience as he develops.”
So it’s simple. The Giants just need to roll the dice on Daboll, then take another risk on a gifted, but raw athlete making the grade at football’s most important position.
That sounds like one gamble too many for a franchise that’s already bet big and lost at quarterback.
Giants Can’t Risk Another Daniel Jones-Sized Mistake
Nobody’s saying Milroe is destined to be another Jones, but there are some worrying similarities the Giants should consider. Those similarities involve the question marks in Milroe’s game.
Question marks including “a bad habit of dropping his eyes against interior pressure, and a relatively high pressure-to-sack rate,” noticed by Valentino’s colleague James Foster. The latter also noted Milroe is guilty of “Holding onto the ball and taking sacks,” as well as being “Slow to identify open windows in the middle of the field.”
If any of those things sound familiar to Giants fans, they should. The same weaknesses have plagued Jones for years.
Those struggles were inevitable for a passer over-drafted when selected sixth overall back in 2019. As Todd McShay explained during ESPN’s coverage (h/t GMEN HQ’s Doug Rush), Jones “is slow to process at times, inconsistent decision-maker.”
Hindsight can be unkind to anybody, and it’s only fair to point out neither Schoen nor Daboll had a hand in drafting Jones. Yet, they consistently doubled down on that decision before finally sending No. 8 to the bench.
It’s hardly the best endorsement for this regime getting to choose the Giants’ next QB1. Team president John Mara had indicated Daboll and Schoen are safe, but given the confusing way they’ve deal with Jones and backup Drew Lock, that could change.
Brian Daboll May Struggle to Develop Jalen Milroe
Although Milroe fits Daboll’s blueprint for signal-callers, big, strong-armed and with some mobility, the coach’s track record is far from impressive. Daboll couldn’t improve Jones, who ticked many of those same boxes but only got worse after getting paid, per DraftKings.
There have been some success stories, like Josh Allen becoming a Pro Bowler when Daboll served as offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills. The problem is Allen’s the outlier, so why trust Daboll to deliver in a Jones-free environment?
Those same doubts have been raised by Dan Duggan of The Athletic, who asked, “So, we sure about Schoen and Daboll’s QB evaluations? They gave Daniel Jones a $160M contract and benched him after 16 terrible starts. They gave Drew Lock $5M to be the backup and then leapfrogged him when they benched Jones. Those were misses on QBs with tons of NFL tape to evaluate. Now this regime is headed toward forcing a QB in a draft that doesn’t feature any can’t-miss prospects.”
Good coaching can turn less than highly-touted prospects into credible NFL starters, but Daboll hasn’t shown he’s the one to provide the right tutelage.
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