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New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones checked most of the boxes for Chris Simms during his 2019 rookie campaign.

Last year was nowhere near easy for Daniel Jones. Coming in as the No. 6 overall draft pick — and a selection that not many New York Giants fans agreed with — Jones needed to essentially replace longtime Big Blue quarterback Eli Manning. On top of that, he didn’t have a consistent support group. Saquon Barkley battled an ankle injury for much of the year while Sterling Shepard spent a significant amount of time in the concussion protocol.

But through it all, the former Duke Blue Devil threw for 3,027 yards and 24 touchdowns and surely impressed NFL analyst Chris Simms.

“I was blown away by Daniel Jones,” Simms told Zack Rosenblatt of NJ Advance Media. “It was good to see Joe Judge start talking about him [earlier this offseason] and saying ‘everybody’s gotta compete for a job.’ But, no, no. Daniel Jones doesn’t have to compete against anyone on that team or on that roster. Anyone who is on that roster, I can just tell you: He’s better than them. Daniel Jones, he was the MVP of the Giants last year, to me. It’s not even close.”

Simms ultimately believes Jones was “phenomenal” in his inaugural NFL season.

Of course, it wasn’t all peaches and cream for the young quarterback. Along with his 12 picks, Jones fumbled the ball a total of 18 times, having lost 11. There were some tough matchups, such as the Week 6 loss to New England in which Jones threw a trio of interceptions along with the Week 7 defeat against Arizona when he lost a pair of fumbles.

Improved offensive coaching and better protection are two ways to suppress the turnover issues, and the Giants made moves pertaining to both this offseason. Not only did they hire Jason Garrett to be the new offensive coordinator, but New York additionally selected three offensive linemen in April’s draft, including tackle Andrew Thomas with the No. 4 overall pick.

Jones’ sophomore campaign should be interesting to witness, especially if the entire supporting cast comes together and remains healthy.

Ryan Honey is a staff writer and host of the Wide Right Podcast.