Teammate shares major hype for Giants' Daniel Jones

New York Giants wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins insists quarterback Daniel Jones will make believers out of critics this season after Jones proved himself to teammates during the 2022 campaign. 

"I feel like he already has solidified himself as a franchise quarterback, a top quarterback in this league," Hodgins said about Jones while speaking with Darryl Slater of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "Some people respect that. Some don’t. I think he’s going to go out there and show: You guys are going to have to deal with me, week in and week out — and every team is going to have to prepare their a-- off to deal with me. I’m excited to see that for him."

Per ESPN stats, Jones finished the 2022 regular season ranked sixth among eligible players with a 62.9 adjusted QBR, and he guided the Giants to a road postseason win in his first campaign playing under head coach Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka. 

Even though Jones recorded just 15 touchdown passes across 16 games, the Giants rewarded him with a four-year contract that could be worth up to $160M and that was heavily ripped by a plethora of individuals throughout the NFL community. 

Many have labeled Jones as a "vanilla" and/or "boring" player who would go unrecognized at a local retail complex. That was before the New York Jets attracted headlines by landing future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers this past spring. Hodgins indicated Jones is just fine letting Rodgers and the Jets hog media attention ahead of the season. 

"I know he likes it that way," Hodgins said about Jones. "He doesn’t care to sit here and be talked about a lot. But we know he’s going to be ready and he’s going to make great highlights this year that are going to make people talk about him."

The newly-paid Jones and the Giants host the division-rival Dallas Cowboys for a Week 1 showdown this coming Sunday night. As of Wednesday afternoon, OddsChecker listed the Cowboys as the favorites (-165, -3) to win that contest.