New York Giants rookie Daniel Jones didn’t have the most impressive college stats, but his arm strength is making waves early.
The selection of quarterback Daniel Jones as the replacement to Eli Manning didn’t go over well with New York Giants fans. His stats in college were underwhelming and he didn’t show tremendous upside at Duke.
However, he’s here now and the Giants will have to make the most of his strengths when he gets on the field.
He’s looked solid in shorts thus far, throwing some absolute bullets in practice. Most quarterbacks look really good during OTAs, but his teammates’ impressions have been telling. For example, Golden Tate has been impressed with Jones’s arm strength, as told to Charlie Weiss and Bill Lekas of SiriusXM NFL Radio.
#Giants WR Golden Tate joined @charlieweissr & @BillLekas to talk about rookie QB Daniel Jones and having Eli Manning to learn from.
"I hope it's kinda like that Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers Situation eventually"
?AUDIO? pic.twitter.com/5kHxz4IyyW
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) May 23, 2019
Tate told them, “Dan the man, he’s looking good.” He’s been impressed with how quickly Jones has picked up the playbook despite being so young. He’s also been impressed with the arm strength that Jones has displayed, saying “talent wise, the guy’s got a super strong arm, he can move around a bit.”
Jones’s arm was a concern coming out of Duke, so it’s a good sign that a well-traveled NFL receiver is so impressed with the strength that Jones showed. Tate, who was brought in to replace Odell Beckham Jr., has caught 611 passes from NFL quarterbacks, so he has some experience catching from guys with NFL quality arms.
The numbers are still underwhelming. Jones put up only 6.4 yards per attempt in three seasons at Duke. He threw 59.9% of his passes for completions, putting up 8,201 yards and a 52:29 TD:INT ratio.
It’ll be on Pat Shurmur to get the most out of Jones as he moves on to the next level, and hopefully, develop Jones into a quality NFL quarterback. Otherwise, he’ll go down as another strong-armed player who couldn’t figure it out.
