Giants need Daniel Jones to take a big leap in 2021

As the new NFL league year approaches, we have witnessed an increased number of quarterbacks on the move thus far and it may just be the beginning.

In the NFC East, three of the four teams could likely have a new starter at quarterback in 2021 with — get this, now — the New York Giants being the only team set at the position.

Philadelphia is certain to have a new face at quarterback after shipping Carson Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts a few weeks ago, leaving the job to second-year player Jalen Hurts. Experts believe the Eagles could take a quarterback with the No. 6 overall pick in the draft in April if the right situation presents itself.

Washington is also in the market for a signal caller. They currently have Alex Smith and Taylor Heinicke but can’t be confident that either player is the long-term answer. They are attempting to orchestrate a trade for a quarterback before the draft.

Dallas is playing the cat-and-mouse game with Dak Prescott and may end up using the franchise tag on him again this year. It’s unlikely that Prescott will play anywhere else in 2021, but there’s a good possibility his tenure in Dallas will remain uncertain again this year.

That leaves the Giants, who are content with Daniel Jones under center even with all of his shortcomings. Jones threw just 11 touchdowns in 2020 to go with 11 interceptions and six lost fumbles. The Giants’ offense was next to last in the league in points and yards last year and many experts are beginning to doubt the Giants’ blind loyalty to Jones at this point.

“Obviously, he flashed last year. He had some big games and played well,” Giants general manager Dave Gettleman said after the season. “Then he had games that weren’t so great. This year, early in the season he was struggling with his ball protection. We all know that.

“The second half of the year unfortunately he had that blip with the hamstring. He finished the season very strong. He played well against Baltimore despite getting chased all over the place to a degree. Made some big-time throws. Really and truly, it may sound trite, but obviously the last game of the year was a playoff game for us. It really was. We have to win that game to force Washington to win their game. Daniel played very well. He made a couple of big-time throws. Protected the ball for the most part. The one pick was off of Evan’s (Engram) hands. He’s done a lot of really good stuff. He’s made of the right stuff mentally and physically. Again, we’re talking about a young quarterback who has had two different offensive coordinators in the NFL. Two different systems. Obviously, he had a different one at Duke so he got three different systems in three years. I thought he got beyond the hamstring the last two games and he played well. We have complete confidence in him moving forward.”

All valid points but the bottom line is Jones took a big statistical step back after throwing for 24 touchdowns in 12 starts as a rookie in 2019. Will he be able to steady the ship this year now that he’ll be returning to the same offense for a second straight year? We’ll find out this fall.

After 15 years of Eli Manning, Giant fans are going to have get used to different expectations from Jones. Manning never missed a game due to injury while Jones has missed five games already over his first two seasons.

Year 3 is crucial for Jones and the Giants. He has to take a ‘leap’ here for starving Giant fans to buy into the Gettleman program. If not, it could be back to the drawing board for this once proud franchise that has hit the skids the last eight years.