Former QB explains why he's high on Giants' Daniel Jones

Retired quarterback and current NFL analyst Chris Simms explained why he recently put Daniel Jones of the New York Giants at No. 11 in his 2023 quarterback rankings. 

"With Daniel Jones, when I first went around with it, I thought he’d be somewhere in the middle part of the group, and then when I watched the film I went, 'Damn, he’s a lot more impressive than I’m giving him credit for here,'' Simms told Giants beat writer Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. "And then when I went back and watched it a second time, to me, it almost became more impressive." 

Simms added that Jones is "one of the few quarterbacks in football who can throw over the line of scrimmage" and "one of the best running quarterbacks in football." 

Jones was already a polarizing figure among members of the NFL community even before the Giants signed him to a four-year contract that could be worth up to $160M and includes an additional $35M in incentives and $82M in guaranteed money. According to ESPN stats, the 26-year-old finished the 2022 season tied for sixth among qualified players with a 60.8 adjusted QBR, tied for fifth with a 67.2% completion percentage and fifth among signal-callers with 708 rushing yards. 

While Statmuse shows Jones led the NFL with an interception percentage of 1.1%, he also notched just 15 touchdown passes and seven scores on the ground across 16 games. To compare, Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs recorded a league-best 41 passing touchdowns. 

Despite some unimpressive numbers, Simms credited Jones for the Giants earning their first playoff victory since they defeated the New England Patriots to win Super Bowl XLVI back in February 2012. 

"When I got done with [watching] Daniel Jones, I was like, 'He maximizes every throw,'" Simms continued. "And rarely do you go, 'He left points or yards on the field in this football game.' It’s almost the exact opposite — he gets a lot of positives out of plays where I go, 'No one’s open, the pass protection sucks and he’s scrambled and got 15 yards or hung in there and made a high-level throw with nobody open and put it in a spot where his receiver could get it and no one else can get it.'"

Giants legend Tiki Barber raised eyebrows when he confidently said earlier this week he believes Jones is "definitely" a top-10 NFL quarterback and also "the second-best quarterback in the NFC." Simms stopped just short of equal praise but suggested the 2022 Giants would've fallen well short of the postseason without the efforts of the 2019 first-round draft pick. 

Jones has plenty of critics amid springtime workouts, but Simms thinks "the arrow’s pointing up" regarding a young talent still developing under second-year head coach Brian Daboll. If Simms is right, the Giants could have a franchise quarterback at a decent price for the next handful of seasons.