The Clock is Ticking for Daniel Jones: When Will His Time Be Up?

(AP Photo/Matt Freed)

The 2024 New York Giants are now 2-6 after falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday, 26-18. There are glaring issues on both sides of the ball and special teams. However, if there’s one person who deserves more blame than anyone else, it’s Daniel Jones.

I used to defend Jones by pointing out how bad the offensive line was, but that excuse is no longer valid. The Giants adjusted their offensive scheme, with many designed dump-off passes on quick crossing and slant routes to get the ball out of Jones’s hands faster. This is supposed to help with two big issues. First, it should make up for the O-line struggles by letting Jones get the ball out quicker. Second, it keeps Jones from going for the deep pass, which has really hurt the Giants’ offense since he’s been struggling to throw accurately beyond 10 yards. This issue with deep throws is new for Jones, and I’d bet it’s a side effect of trying to fix his past turnover problems.

Even with an offense designed to minimize Jones’s weaknesses, his numbers remain at the bottom of the league. He ranks 21st in passing yards per game at 206.9 and 28th in yards per attempt at 5.9. Unsurprisingly, his longest pass this season is just 44 yards, putting him 33rd among quarterbacks. His struggles extend to the red zone, with only seven passing touchdowns, ranking him 26th. Jones’s QBR sits at 44.7 (26th in the league), and his passer rating is 80, placing him 28th among quarterbacks.

Showing no clear signs that he can turn things around, the question now becomes, when do the Giants decide to bench Jones this season, if they even bench him at all?

The timing of when or if they bench Jones is pretty wide open, considering the Giants still have nine games left on their schedule. To limit the possibilities, I am going to briefly discuss three potential outcomes and my thoughts on each. 

1. Bench Him In Week 10: 

After yesterday's loss to the Steelers, ESPN projects the Giants have less than a 1% chance of making the playoffs. Despite this, Brian Daboll has already named Jones the Week 9 starter. With the team virtually out of contention, there’s really no excuse to keep starting him. Benching Jones would also ease some frustration for Giants fans, who haven’t exactly been thrilled with his play this season. If I were the GM, I’d bench him now. With the playoffs looking like a long shot and the potential to save $18 million by cutting him after the season, it makes sense to see what other talent we have behind center. If they don’t perform any better, we could always bring Jones back—there’s really no harm in that.


2. Wait Until They Are Mathematically Eliminated From The Playoffs: 

If the front office still thinks this team has a sliver of hope to make the playoffs, they might wait until they are mathematically eliminated before benching the quarterback they are paying $35.5 million this season. I would not be a fan of this move, as it limits the opportunities for the other two quarterbacks on the Giants' depth chart. We all got a glimpse of what third-string quarterback Tommy DeVito can bring to the table, but we have not given first-year backup Drew Lock a fair shake. Lock has only thrown the ball eight times this season.


3. Wait Until The Season Is Over: 

The Giants may choose not to bench Jones at all. They might not be seeing enough out of Lock or DeVito to consider letting them start, or they may have too much pride and stick with the quarterback they are paying the big bucks to. Either way, those both sound like lame excuses to make the coaching staff feel less pressure. I really hope the Giants do not go down this path.

When do you think the Giants should bench Daniel Jones? Comment below.