New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is a bit of a lightning rod. It was the same with Eli Manning before him and will be the same with whoever comes after him.
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Every aspect of Jones’ game has been overanalyzed and beaten like a dead horse. Not a day goes by without an expert, analyst, former player or vanilla blogger breaking down his game in an effort to pinpoint any and every potential weakness.
Yet despite that, general manager after general manager and head coach after head coach continue to stick with Jones. They all seem to see something in him that others on the outside do not.
But that’s not to say Jones’ game is flawless. That’s obviously not the case and his career record is far from something to brag about.
Freddie Kitchens, who spent the past two seasons with the Giants under Joe Judge, believes that Jones’ biggest issue has nothing to do with this athleticism or talent. Rather, it has everything to do with his health.
“I think Daniel began to understand that [the importance of staying healthy],” Kitchens said during a SiriusXM NFL Radio appearance on Monday. “[His neck injury] was just an unfortunate deal, but I do think Daniel’s grown a lot from that aspect of things and understands that he kinda carries the team on his back as far as their future because he wouldn’t be starting unless he was the best chance to win. He’s started to understand that better.
“I think early on you’re out there for the team, you want to do what’s best for the team and all those sorts of things and you kinda get carried away at times, but he’s gotten a better grasp of that I think and I know he has moving forward.”
Jones has suffered an injury and missed time in each of his first three seasons. Even dating back to his final year at Duke, injuries have been a consistent theme.
Much of that can be attributed to Jones taking off and running. That immediately thrusts him into a contact situation with the 25-year-old often leaning into hits as opposed to shying away from them.
While the latter part of that needs to change, Kitchens cautions against eliminating one of the best assets to Jones’ game.
“With Daniel’s legs — his legs are a tremendous attribute and I think moving forward just staying a little more safe with him would be beneficial and I think he’s learned that,” Kitchens said. “I think you’ll see the best of Daniel Jones from that aspect. Make no mistake about it, Daniel Jones’ legs are definitely a weapon.”
Ultimately, Kitchens feels, Jones is finally in a good spot. He believes Brian Daboll will get the most out of the young quarterback and we’ll see the best version of DJ here in 2022.
“I think they’ve got the best situation that Daniel’s had in quite some time to get the best out of him,” Kitchens said.
