Can Giants replace Daniel Jones? 2024 mock draft predicts Joe Schoen will ditch $160,000,000 plan with top QB prospect
Daniel Jones is only one full season removed from winning a playoff game, but many fans and pundits are ready to turn the page. The 2024 NFL Draft is as good a time as any, and according to one NFL analyst, the New York Giants are predicted to follow suit.
In a mock draft posted by NFL insider Peter Schrager on NFL.com, he predicted the Giants to aggressively move to replace Jones. Already holding the sixth pick, the team elected to move even further up to nab J.J. McCarthy.
The Giants were predicted to move up two spots to the fourth overall pick via trade with the Arizona Cardinals to select the quarterback.
The Cardinals, content with Kyler Murray for at least one more season, elected to bolster their draft capital instead of taking a quarterback of the future or top wide receiver prospect.
Daniel Jones era teeters on potential beginning of the end
Such a move would send a shiver down the spine of Eli Manning's replacement, who had been riding high after winning a playoff game and getting a sizable pay increase following the 2022 season.
Before the end of the 2022 season, he played on a contract worth $25 million, per Spotac. Shortly after the 2022 season, he was signed to a dea that was worth $160 million.
In 2022, Jones threw for 15 touchdowns and five interceptions, completing 67.2% of his throws. It was the best touchdown-interception ratio of his career and the most thrown touchdowns since his rookie season.
However, the follow-up to his 2022 season was a scintillating dud, throwing for two touchdowns and six interceptions before missing most of the year due to injury. If Schrager's prediction comes to pass, it would not be just his 2023 performance that would be the culprit.
While 2022 was memorable, 2020 and 2021 were not for Giants fans, as the quarterback went a combined 9-16 in those years. He also threw for just 21 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.
Nevertheless, fans fear that getting J.J. McCarthy might be akin to making the same mistake twice for the New York Giants. In Daniel Jones' final season in college, he threw for 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions. In McCarthy's final college season, he threw for 22 touchdowns and four interceptions.
Of course, J.J. McCarthy has a college championship to point to, but the similarities between the stat lines are uncanny. Nevertheless, while Jones was met with groans by Giants fans and laughter from rival fans, getting a college championship winner would seemingly be a more popular move this time.