We interrupt your regularly scheduled Daniel Jones bashing to bring you a counter-take on the New York Giants quarterback. Kind of.
Douglas Clawson of CBS Sports recently set out to rank the NFL’s most clutch quarterbacks that are still active and although he dismisses it as a fluke, Jones cracked the top 10.
8. Daniel Jones
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Hear me out before you pound your fist on the table and yell “Daniel Jones is eighth on this list?!?!?” He had very few clutch opportunities through three seasons but he’s been steady lately. He successfully led the Giants down the field to tie or take the lead on 11 of 25 opportunities (44 percent) in the last two years, a top-10 rate in the NFL.
I’ll be the first one to tell you that his NFL-record five game-winning drives through seven games in 2022 was a fluke. But, while he may not have been landing haymakers and Saquon Barkley was certainly doing his fair share of the heavy lifting, credit Jones for taking care of the ball and adding value with his legs. His five turnovers in the fourth-quarter and OT in the last two years is the same number as Joe Burrow. He also led a game-winning drive on the road in the postseason against the Vikings in 2022.
Patrick Mahomes unsurprisingly topped the list but alongside Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Jared Goff and others, Jones finds himself in good company.
The two quarterbacks Jones beat out in the top 10 were Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers and Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens. Jones, of course, is the only NFC quarterback to beat Jackson at this point in his career.
Imagine what Jones could do with an improved offensive line and better skill position players? The Giants hope to find out in 2024.