The New York Giants, who are on their third head coach and fourth offensive coordinator in six years, have made the decision to roll with fourth-year quarterback Daniel Jones.
The club did not exercise Jones’ fifth-year option for 2023 but have enough confidence in him to give him a season in their new offense to see if he can play up to being the sixth player picked in the 2019 NFL draft.
Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, who has spent the last few seasons as Patrick Mahomes’ quarterback coach in Kansas City, is looking forward to working with Jones.
“I really enjoy working with him right now,” Kafka told reporters on Thursday at the Giants’ OTA. “He’s a smart kid. He works hard. Those are all things that I had heard about him but being able to see it in person has been great. Right now, just developing that relationship with him is the most important thing, and out here in practice seeing him operate, seeing him communicate with the players and how he talks to each and every group has been really cool.”
Jones, an economics major from Duke, has the classroom part down but just needs to get the on the field part right. Kafka is going to rely on Jones to get both parts right.
“Well, the amount of installs we’re giving these guys, the plays, the load that we’re going to give our players as far as install-wise, he’s absorbing it and he’s able to spit it back out, get guys fixed and cleaned up on the field. Those are things I’m looking just out of the gate, getting guys lined up correctly, getting the huddle, sharp, crisp. Those are things that are important for pre-snap stuff,” Kafka said.
Kafka got Mahomes to realize his potential and turned him into an MVP and a Super Bowl champion. There are hopes that he — and head coach Brian Daboll, who developed Josh Allen in Buffalo — can do the same for Jones.
“We’re very early in the offense, in the offensive program really. We’re continuing to work daily on just our job, working his fundamentals, his techniques,” Kafka said. “I think as he gets more comfortable in the system and with what we’re doing offensively, you’ll see him continue to get better.
“That’s every player really. I think Daniel is a smart guy. He’s going to work at it. You tell him one thing he’s going to spend all day thinking about it and working at it, and that’s what I appreciate. And that is what all the coaching staff has appreciated.”
