Giants legend shares worrisome comparisons regarding QB Daniel Jones

Statistically speaking, Daniel Jones of the New York Giants was one of the NFL's worst quarterbacks for Week 1 of the 2024 season when he completed 22-of-42 passes for 186 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions in this past Sunday's embarrassing 28-6 home loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

During Monday's edition of the WFAN afternoon show, Giants legend and current NFL analyst Tiki Barber suggested Jones played like a rookie rather than like a veteran in his sixth NFL campaign against Minnesota.

"There were mistakes that I saw made by Daniel Jones that I also saw from Caleb Williams, Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels," Barber explained, as shared by Ryan Chichester of Audacy. "The difference is, those guys are rookies, and Daniel Jones is in his sixth season in the NFL. There are things like not reading through progressions, not taking the easy throw and looking flustered in the face of clean pockets. Those are all things that Daniel Jones needs to, and has to, do better or this Giants team is going absolutely nowhere."

One-time regular-season Most Valuable Player Award winner and current NFL analyst Boomer Esiason also ripped Jones' decision-making after the 27-year-old tossed two interceptions, one of which became a pick-six and a second that included him throwing the ball into triple coverage, in his latest loss.

According to ESPN stats, Jones heads into Week 2 ranked 30th in the NFL among qualified players with a 16.6 adjusted QBR and 31st out of 32 quarterbacks with a 44.3 passer rating.

"I am not ready to scream 'bench him,'" Barber said about Jones. "It’s only one game, and he hasn’t played since tearing his ACL (on Nov. 5 of last year)...but right now, there is not a fan, a pundit, and there are probably not a lot of people in that locker room who feel like Daniel Jones is their answer at quarterback."

Head coach Brian Daboll insisted on Monday he's sticking with Jones as New York's QB1 for this Sunday's game at the 0-1 Washington Commanders. With that said, Barber thinks the Giants could bench Jones in favor of primary backup Drew Lock or 2023 undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito after " one quarter of the season" if the 2019 first-round draft pick "doesn’t get better" over the next several weeks.

The Giants host the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4 on Thursday, Sept. 26. Daboll theoretically could use the extra time following that game to get either Lock or DeVito ready to start the Week 5 matchup at the Seattle Seahawks on Oct. 6.