What needs to happen for Giants QB Daniel Jones to make a big leap this season?
When the New York Giants were seeking Eli Mannings successor in the 2019 draft, Daniel Jones checked every box: Intelligent. High character. Hard worker. Respected by teammates. Athletic. Capable of making all the throws. Able to process information. The Giants viewed Jones as the complete package, so they surprised many by taking the Duke quarterback with the sixth pick. Through two seasons, Jones hasnt yet validated the Giants faith. Jones has more turnovers (39) than touchdown passes (35) and the Giants have an 8-18 record in his 26 career starts. Jones enters a pivotal third season when he must make substantial strides or else the Giants, who have two first-round picks in next years draft, will be forced to consider alternatives for their quarterback of the future. The Athletic spoke to ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky and coaches who have worked with Jones during and before his time with the Giants to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the young quarterback. Jones entire 2021 season could be determined by two seconds of cumulative action. Thats how long it will take to measure a series of split-second decisions that have derailed Jones in his first two seasons. He has 10 to 12 plays a season  and I remember talking about this coming out of Duke  where its panic time, Orlovsky said. As a quarterback, you either panic with the football or you value the football. If he can get rid of those 10 or 12 plays a season that you sit there and go, Dude, what the fudge?! I know you know that you shouldnt do that. Why do you continue to do that? For a guy thats athletic and smart, he has way too many turnovers.  Even Jones staunchest supporters concede that he must eliminate the plays Orlovsky referenced. Last seasons most glaring example was a pair of forced interceptions while under pressure in the second half of a 25-23 loss to the Buccaneers in Week 8. Its not a stretch to suggest the Giants would have knocked off the eventual Super Bowl champs if Jones had avoided those killer mistakes, which led directly to 10 Tampa Bay points. ' Orlovsky said. If they coach that out of him and if he works that out of himself, I think hes got a chance to really take a big step forward. Im not totally confident that its something you can work out of your game or coach out of your game. But if he gets rid of that, its a game-changer.  One of Jones problems is hes too competitive. His instinct is always to try to make a play, which leads to trouble when hes under pressure or his receivers are covered. I think at times, particularly early in the year, I felt like I was pressing to make a play when it wasnt there, Jones admitted late last season. A willingness to stand tall when the pocket is collapsing is necessary to succeed in the NFL. But doing so too often makes a quarterback susceptible to turnovers. Jones would benefit from adopting Mannings self-sack, which allowed the offense to live to fight another down. Knowing when to stop competing is something that we talk about, Jones longtime trainer, David Morris, said last offseason. Knowing when to move on  throw it away, tuck it. An incompletion is better than a sack. An incompletion is better than a turnover.  Jones adjusted his style of play after the loss to the Bucs. After committing 13 turnovers in the first eight games of the season, Jones had just three turnovers in his final six starts. And those turnovers  an interception that went through Evan Engrams hands, a botched handoff and a blindside strip-sack  werent the type of mental errors that fuel the doubts about Jones ability to develop into a franchise quarterback. Jason Garrett, who was hired after Jones threw 24 touchdown passes (with 23 turnovers) as a rookie in Pat Shurmurs offense, recently revealed that reducing turnovers was the biggest emphasis in his first season as offensive coordinator. On the surface, that seems like a prudent approach. But that focus can have unintended consequences. I dont like when people say, Protect the football. To be great at that position and have a great offense, the ball has to be put in harms way at times, Orlovsky said. When coaches go, Were going to limit the turnovers, youre also going to limit the opportunities to make big plays.  The Giants offensive approach last season supports Orlovskys thesis. Jones had just 31 completions of 20-plus yards, which tied for 22nd-most in the NFL. That was down from 39 such completions in two fewer starts as a rookie. Making the lack of big plays more troubling is that Jones 132.5 passer rating on throws of 20-plus yards led the league. The problem was he simply didnt have enough attempts downfield in Garretts system. Just 9.6 percent of Jones attempts last season traveled 20-plus yards, which was 31st-most in the league and down from 11.8 percent as a rookie. His average depth of target last season was 8.0 yards, which ranked 20th. Jones reduced what Pro Football Focus deems turnover-worthy plays from 5.5 percent as a rookie to 3.1 percent last season. As Orlovsky noted, some risk is necessary to produce big plays. Seattles Russell Wilson threw 13 interceptions last season, which was three more than Jones. But Wilson also had 40 touchdown passes, which nearly quadrupled Jones paltry total of 11. Ideally, Jones will limit his turnovers. But its easier to tolerate turnovers when theyre countered by big plays. Jones needs to find the balance of big plays and ball security this season. He showed glimpses two weeks after the Bucs debacle, when he played a clean game against the Eagles, completing 21 of 28 passes for 244 yards. He didnt throw any touchdown passes, but he ran for a 34-yard score. And he didnt commit a single turnover, which to that point was only the third time in 22 career starts that he didnt register a giveaway. There was a sequence in that game that demonstrated the best of Jones. After the Giants lead had been cut to 14-11 early in the third quarter, Jones immediately answered with consecutive completions of 27 and 38 yards to set up a touchdown. Later, Jones had a 40-yard completion to seal the 27-17 win. An aggressive mindset and accurate deep throws were the keys in those moments to help the Giants avoid a ninth straight loss to their NFC East rivals. Unfortunately for Jones, he suffered a hamstring injury in the third quarter of the following weeks game at Cincinnati. He wasnt fully healthy in his final three starts of the season, which made it more challenging to track his progress. Its reasonable to expect Jones improved ball security to carry over, but there are other issues with an offense that averaged just 17.5 points last season. At a time when most of the top offenses in the league utilize motion both before and at the time of the snap, the Giants were stagnant last season. They used motion at the snap on 8.3 percent of their plays, which ranked 22nd, and any sort of motion on 36.5 percent of their snaps, which ranked 25th. If youre not moving and motioning and shifting a ton pre-snap, youre so far behind the times in the NFL, Orlovsky said. Truthfully and candidly, youre hindering your players performance. The more that you force the defense to think and have to re-think pre-snap and at the snap, the more youre just making it easy on your players. Im offended in many ways that were still saying, You have to do it more. This should be a foundational piece of your offense. '  Jones could aid Garrett by making more plays out of structure, a skill that is the calling card for some of the top quarterbacks in the league like Wilson, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. It limits the potential of the offense when the quarterback cant consistently make something happen after the initial play call breaks down. You sit there and go, Man itd be really nice if I didnt have to dial up all the perfect play calls,' Orlovsky said. It stresses a play caller, no doubt. And those guys who can do it make it easier on your play caller. That is still steps away for Daniel in my opinion.  Theres a notion that Jones struggles in the pocket are tied to not processing quickly. That claim is dismissed by everyone who has coached him. Jones coach at Duke, David Cutcliffe, is renowned for his work with quarterbacks, including Peyton and Eli Manning. Cutcliffe drills quarterbacks on the thought process behind their decisions. Jones demonstrated the requisite understanding to start for Cutcliffe for three seasons. Again, its important to grasp that Jones problems can mostly be traced to a dozen split-second decisions throughout the course of the season. Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is sacked by Washington safety Kamren Curl during a game last November. (Geoff Burke / USA Today)  The obstacles Jones has faced run much deeper than the coordinator. The Giants have simply been undermanned during Jones first two seasons, particularly on the offensive line. Jones was pressured on 40.3 percent of his dropbacks last season, which was the second-highest rate in the league. He was sacked 45 times, the fourth-highest total. Of the 45 sacks, 11 happened in less than 2.5 seconds, which tied for most in the NFL. So clearly breakdowns up front put Jones at a disadvantage. But Jones could help his cause with better pocket presence. He had the fifth-highest rate (21.6 percent) of pressures turned into sacks last season. Jones 55.7 passer rating under pressure ranked 17th in the league. Obviously being under pressure as frequently as Jones was last season isnt a recipe for success. But his 92.8 passer rating when kept clean ranked 25th, so he also needs to be better when he has time. That Jones pressed at times last season isnt a surprise considering the lack of help he got from his playmakers. Giants receivers dropped 5.1 percent of Jones passes, which was the 10th-highest rate in the league. And the Giants finished last with a 3.9 yards-after-catch average. The personnel deficiencies were partly due to injury. Running back Saquon Barkley was lost for the season in Week 2 with a torn ACL, while top receiver Sterling Shepard missed four games early in the season with turf toe. Interestingly, the Giants faced a loaded box more often without Barkley. Wayne Gallman faced a box with at least eight defenders on a league-high 39.5 percent of his carries. Barkley, meanwhile, faced a box with at least eight defenders on just 11.1 percent of his carries in 2019. The Giants had success on the ground last season despite the absence of the dynamic Barkley. The Giants averaged 110.5 yards rushing per game compared to 105.3 per game in 2019, while they averaged 4.4 yards per carry last season compared to 4.7 in 2019. Barkleys impact on Jones production over the past two seasons is undeniable, however:  Comp % Yards TD INT Record With Barkley 62.5 265 2.3 0.9 1-8 Without Barkley 61.9 209.8 0.8 0.8 7-10  Similarly, Shepards absence made a noticeable impact on Jones last season:  Comp % Yards TD INT Record With Shepard 63.4 224 1 0.7 4-6 Without Shepard 60 175.8 0.3 0.8 1-3  With no game-breaking playmakers to fear, opponents blitzed Jones on 40.8 percent of his dropbacks last season, the third-highest rate in the league. Opponents only blitzed on 26.9 percent of Jones dropbacks in 2019 when Barkley was in the lineup for 13 games. The Giants addressed the lack of a No. 1 receiver this offseason by signing free agent Kenny Golladay to a four-year, $72 million contract. The 6-foot-4 Golladay has consistently ranked among the league leaders in contested catch rate. That specialty should mesh perfectly with Jones deep ball proficiency. Garretts offenses in Dallas featured more of a downfield focus when he had a legitimate No. 1 outside receiver, so perhaps the addition of Golladay will spur the veteran coach to open up the passing game. Daniel does it well, youve got a big-bodied guy that does it well, so Jasons got to be willing to push the ball downfield a little bit more, Orlovsky said. Youve got to create some chunk plays for your offense, give your guys give an opportunity.  Jones can help himself if designed runs remain a part of the offense. The Giants found success by incorporating more zone reads last season, as Jones led all quarterbacks by averaging 6.5 yards per carry. His speed seemed to catch opponents off guard, with his four runs of 20-plus yards ranking fourth among quarterbacks. Jones averaged 4.6 carries per game last season. Orlovsky believes that figure should be increased to six carries per game, as long as Jones does a better job avoiding big hits. The one thing I would say is he does not do a good job of avoiding contact. But I just believe (Jones running) is an absolute weapon, Orlovsky said. Some guys, it could be situational. You dont even need it to be situational (with Jones). They need to fully dive into him being a running, dual-threat quarterback in 11-on-11 football.  Even after accounting for the personnel limitations and the coaching questions, quarterbacks are judged by wins and losses. Jones has yet to raise his teammates level of play to knock off a superior team. The Giants are 0-12 in Jones 12 starts against teams that finished with records of .500 or better. That needs to change if the Giants are going to become legitimate playoff contenders. Daniel Jones scrambles against the Steelers during their game last September. (Vincent Carchietta / USA Today)  Jones has been everything the organization expected as a leader and representative of the franchise. He possesses every intangible necessary to become a franchise quarterback. Thats why the Giants brass is confident Jones flaws can be improved through coaching and practice. But plenty of players with great intangibles fall short of becoming franchise quarterbacks. Theres enough evidence at this point to determine that Jones doesnt have the otherworldly natural talent of a quarterback like Mahomes. But its not outlandish to project a quarterback like Atlantas Matt Ryan as a ceiling for Jones. That level of play was good enough for an MVP and a Super Bowl appearance. I dont believe hes got the talent to ever be a top-five guy. But there are different ways to thrive at the position, Orlovsky said. His opportunity to thrive at the position is he does have to play very much a style of Drew Brees type of football. Now, hes got the athleticism that can really be a beneficial thing, but thats the only chance he has to thrive: if he becomes an absolute tactician with the football.  The Giants need to see Jones thrive because after the season, they have to decide on his fifth-year option for 2023, which will cost roughly $20 million guaranteed. Many teams have been extending or cutting ties with quarterbacks after their third seasons recently. Though questions remain about the offensive line and play calling, Jones supporting cast has been upgraded substantially this offseason. Typically, quarterbacks are responsible for taking teams to the next level. The Giants need Jones to take a step in that direction this season. Its more of making sure Daniels style of play gets to a point where hes not a reason they lose, Orlovsky said. Dont be a reason your team loses a game. Then be a reason your team wins the game.  (Top photo: Evan Pinkus via Associated Press)