PALM BEACH, Fla. — There were times in Buffalo when the Bills put the ball in the hands of Josh Allen and he made something happen. The runs he took off on were not designed. The scrambles he embarked on and impromptu throws he attempted were not scripted.
Brian Daboll, as the offensive coordinator, saw all of it. As the head coach of the Giants, he believes he can get some of that out of Daniel Jones, utilizing Jones’ arm and certainly his legs as a dual threat.
“He’s athletic, he’s big, he’s strong,’’ Daboll said Tuesday at the NFL owners’ meetings. “I know he’s had some injuries. It’s always a balancing act. And at the end of the day you’ve got to try to use your players the best way you can use them to try to win a game. Sometimes it might not start early in the season like that but as you figure out what you are and what you need to do you can evolve to that.
“With Josh, how many quarterback runs did we really run him by design? Probably more a little bit later in the year when it was crunch time. That’s knowing the player, too. Where a guy wants the ball in his hands in the most critical moments of the game and you can count on him to do that. We’ll find out with Daniel, I think he’s got a really good skill set in that regard. How much of it we’ll do, you never know.’’
No one around the Giants is comparing Jones to Allen, although there are physical and athletic connections to be made. Allen, 25, is 6-foot-5 and 237 pounds. Jones, 24 is also 6-5 and a bit lighter at 220. Both can move out of the pocket and gain yards by scooting around the edge. Allen’s arm strength is unreal and his accuracy has vastly improved. As a playmaker, Jones is not in Allen’s realm.
The knock on Allen coming into the 2018 NFL Draft was that he was scatter-armed — he completed only 56.2 percent of his passes in his career at Wyoming and his touchdown-to-interception ratio of 44-21 was nothing special. Daboll got his hands on Allen from Day 1 and Allen as a rookie for the Bills was more of the same: 52.8 completion percentage, 10 touchdowns, 12 interceptions. Daboll helped turn Allen into an MVP candidate and a player in the conversation when the NFL’s best quarterbacks are discussed.
“I’ve coached a lot of players at a lot of different positions, heard a lot about a lot of different players I coached,’’ Daboll said. “Some, he can’t play in this league because he’s too inaccurate. He can’t play because he turns the ball over. I think the most important thing is you put him in your system, coach him, develop a relationship with him, try to get the best out of him.’’
Jones missed the last six games of the 2021 season with a neck injury and Daboll said Jones “should be ready to go’’ when the offseason work starts up in two weeks. Daboll has studied every snap Jones has taken with the Giants and realizes there is work to be done.
“With Daniel, I think he’s got good athleticism, he’s made some really good throws,’’ Daboll said. “I’m sure there’s plays he wants back, just like everybody.’’
Jones’ turnovers — 57 in his career (29 interceptions, 28 lost fumbles) — are glaring, although he has taken much better care of the ball as time has moved on. His lost fumbles (16 in 2019, seven in 2020 and five in 2021) have gone down every season, as have his interceptions (12, 10 and seven). Still, this is cause for concern.
“It’s on tape,’’ Daboll said. “I don’t make excuses for anybody, starting with me. I think you really have to go back and dive into the cause of some of the turnovers. Some are decision-making turnovers that we can try to fix. Some are receivers fell down or a tipped ball and some are really great plays by the defense, in terms of the interceptions. In terms of the fumbles, why we’re fumbling, how we’re fumbling, you do drill work to try to improve that.’’
The Giants signed veteran Tyrod Taylor to serve as the backup quarterback, and before word of this got out, Daboll first alerted Jones, assuring him his starting job was not in danger of getting usurped.
“Whatever position you play, quarterback is probably a different position, when you sign a player your antennas go up,’’ Daboll said. “Transparency is the way to go.’’
There are no secrets here. If Daboll can yank Jones’ career out of the dark ages, everything will look brighter for the Giants.
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