Daniel Jones
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Similar to Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones picked a good time to have a huge season. While Judge was already an established player before his 62-homer campaign in 2022, Jones was very much an unknown. So much so that general manager Joe Schoen didn’t pick up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract last spring.

Well, it’s amazing what one year and a capable coaching staff can do. Instead of trying to find another quarterback this offseason, Big Blue is committed to retaining Jones. They’re also prepared to award him with a significant payday. But as we look to the future, how good can the signal-caller be?

If you ask WFAN’s Tiki Barber, he’s pretty sure of what’ll happen. Here’s what he recently said on “Tiki and Tierney” (quite via Giantswire):

He is going to be the best quarterback in the NFC East. I know that Jalen Hurts is a stud, I know that he’s amazing, got all these accolades, but he’s also got a lot around him.

Daniel Jones is in a situation right now with the Giants, Mike Kafka, and more importantly, Brian Daboll, where he is going to be coached into a top-10 quarterback. I believe that. I truly believe that; maybe that’s because I have blind faith in the Giants coaching staff. But I also know because of his skill set.

He’s 6-foot-5, he’s big, doesn’t have to move out of the pocket to see crossing routes, and throws and digs over the middle. He can stand right where he needs to stand and deliver every single throw. And if he needs to run, he’ll go run. He had 700 yards and seven touchdowns this year.

Thanks to the Eagles prepping for the Super Bowl vs. the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend, there’s a good chance this will mostly fly under the radar in Philly. After all, who cares, right? Hurts has performed at an MVP-caliber level and has his squad four quarters away from another Lombardi trophy.

Either way, this is a pretty bold take from Tiki. Jones had himself a terrific year, especially when compared to his first three pro seasons. His performance on the ground was stellar, but what he did through the air was probably a little more impressive. Mostly because New York’s wide-receiver room left a lot to be desired by the second half of the year.

We’re still just talking about one year here, though.

With Jones back in the fold next season, one would hope he’ll be more productive with additional offensive weapons around him. Could the signal-caller transform into a top-10 quarterback at some point? Well, I mean, sure — it’s possible. He just experienced a breakout in the first year working under a new coaching staff/offensive scheme and is still just 25 years old.

However, proclaiming right now that he’ll be better than a current MVP candidate seems like a stretch. But then again, that’s why they play the game, folks. We’ll find out what happens soon enough and if Barber’s “blind faith” in the Giants’ coaching staff will lead to him being right.

Matt Musico can be reached at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.

Matt Musico is an editor for ESNY. He’s been writing about baseball and the Mets for the past decade. His work has been featured on numberFire, MetsMerized Online, Bleacher Report, and Yahoo! Sports.