End of the Daniel Jones Era: Giants Look to 2025 Draft for Franchise QB

 

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According to multiple reports, the New York Giants have announced that Daniel Jones will be benched and Tommy DeVito will start for Big Blue when they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday, 11/24.

Giants fans can now breathe a sigh of relief, as this marks the end of the Daniel Jones experiment, an experiment that cost far too much and went on for far too long. Aside from his one productive season in 2022, Jones has been awful.

When the Giants drafted Jones with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft, the front office saw a quarterback that possessed all the tools to be great, but may need a few years to get there. Well, they thought 2022 was that year, when Jones finished with 3,205 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, five interceptions, a quarterback rating of 92.5, and a QBR of 62.9, all career highs. Jones led the 2022 Giants to a 9-7-1 record and brought them to the divisional round of the playoffs. That offseason, he was awarded with a four-year, $160 million contract.

2023 saw Jones’s season cut short due to injury; he only played in six games. Those six games were ugly; Jones threw three times as many picks (six) as he did touchdowns (two); he only managed to average 5.7 yards per throw; his quarterback rating was 70.5; and his QBR was 37.1, all career lows.

Through ten games this season, Jones ranks 19th in total passing yards, 26th in completion percentage, 33rd in yards per attempt, 27th in passing touchdowns, 26th in QBR, 32nd in quarterback rating, and 5th in most sacks taken—all while earning $36 million this year.

Now that the Daniel Jones chapter has closed, the Giants’ number one focus must be on finding the next starting quarterback for this team.

It is not likely they will be finding their quarterback through free agency. There are only two full-time starting quarterbacks who are set to be free agents in 2025: Sam Darnold and Russell Wilson. Considering the success the Vikings and Steelers are having this season, it would make sense for both Darnold and Wilson to return to their respective teams

That means the Giants will hope to find their next franchise quarterback in the 2025 draft. With a current record of 2-8, ESPN currently projects the Giants have a 16.9% chance of the first overall pick and a 62.7% chance of a top five pick.

Two quarterbacks in the 2025 draft class, Shedeur Sanders from the Colorado Buffaloes and Cam Ward from the Miami Hurricanes, are currently projected to be top-five picks.

Shedeur Sanders

Hall of Fame defensive back Deion Sanders certainly passed on his athletic genetics to his son Shedeur, who has been lighting up the college football world the past two seasons at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Sanders is an excellent pocket passer with great field vision. So far this season, he’s completed 72.9% of his passes (ranks third in the country), thrown for 3,222 yards (ranks sixth in the country), 27 touchdowns (tied for second in the country), and has a quarterback rating of 163 (19th in the country).

It was hard to find deterrents for drafting Sanders, and none directly relate to his on-field performance. Sanders has been subject to some controversy.

One example was in Week 2, when Colorado lost 28-10 to Nebraska. Sanders made some negative remarks about Colorado's offensive line. Sanders said, "How many times did Raiola get touched?" referring to Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola and the strong performance of his offensive line. He added, "You've got to understand what your team's good at," expressing frustration with the team's decision to continue running the ball in a critical situation.

Another deterrent spectators can point to is Colorado’s strength of schedule. Although they moved from the Pac-12 to the Big-12 this season, which in turn increased their level of competition, their schedule this season is still pretty middle of the pack when compared to most SEC, Big 10, or ACC schools. The Buffaloes have only played one top-25-ranked opponent this season, when they lost 31-28 to, at the time, the 18th-ranked Kansas State Wildcats.

Cam Ward

The fifth-year senior has been one of the most exciting players in college football and is currently leading the most efficient, high-powered offense in the country.

Ward has not had the same college football journey as most projected top five picks. Ward started his football career at the Division II level, excelling for two years at the University of the Incarnate Word before transferring to Washington State University, where he would continue to find success, throwing for over 3,700 passing yards and 25 touchdowns last season for the Cougars.

The Miami Hurricanes loved the way Ward plays the game and thought he would be an excellent fit on their offense, so it came as no suprise when they aggresively went after Ward in the transfer portal.

Cam has the ability to throw from multiple different angles and has the speed to either escape pressure and throw on the run or run for the first down.

Ward has been nothing short of elite this season. Ward currently leads college football in passing yards (3,494) and touchdowns (32), ranks fifth nationally in yards per attempt (9.7), and holds the fourth-highest quarterback rating in the country (174).

Like Sanders, it is difficult to find the negatives in Ward’s game that would deter a team from drafting him.

After the 2021 season, there were concerns about Ward’s ball security, as he fumbled the ball 12 times that season. However, those concerns died down the following season, when he almost cut the number in half with seven fumbles on the year. Unfortunately, those same issues surfaced again last season, where he again had 12 fumbles. This year, that problem seems to have dissipated, with only three fumbles on the season. Is this a sign of real progress or just an inconsistency in ball security?

Another similarity with Sanders is the easy strength of schedule. Miami has not played a top-25-ranked opponent this season and has not been presented with much of a challenge.

My Thoughts

Personally, I am torn between which quarterback I would want to see in a Giants uniform. Both present a ton of upside and do not show any glaring deficiencies in their game. I may lean with Ward on the simple fact that drafting Shedeur means you know have to deal with the larger-than-life personality of Deion Sanders, who has already been very vocal about the kind of atmosphere he wants his son to plan in next year. Aside from that, it is really a coin flip from my end; I would be happy with either option, especially after having to watch the Daniel Jones show for the last six seasons.

Who would you like to see the under center for the Giants in 2025? Comment below.