Cris Collinsworth is best known for being the color analyst for NBC’s Sunday Night Football, but he also owns Pro Football Focus.
To that end, PFF’s grading system has been kind to Giants quarterback Daniel Jones this season with a 78.4 overall grade (15th-best). PFF has been more positive about Jones than most experts and analysts, so it should come as no surprise that Collinsworth still believes in Jones, too.
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Collinsworth attributes most of Jones’ struggles — he has 14 turnovers and only eight passing touchdowns in 12 games — to his circumstances.
“Daniel Jones has enough skills to play in the NFL at a high level,” Collinsworth told NJ Advance Media. “He has a very young offensive line that needed training camp. He lost his star running back (Saquon Barkley), and got hurt when the team started to improve. His receivers drop too many passes. He consistently hits deep throws but doesn’t throw enough of them, and he needs to improve in the Red Zone.”
It’d be hard to argue with most of those points. The Giants offensive line is graded as the worst pass-blocking unit in the NFL by PFF and the wide receivers have certainly struggled. PFF also has Jones with the best passer-rating on deep throws (140.6) but also the sixth-lowest deep throw percentage (8.4%).
And it’s true that Barkley is out, though the running attack has been plenty impactful with Wayne Gallman leading the backfield.
Collinsworth, a former NFL wide receiver, will call the Giants’ Sunday night game against the Cleveland Browns with Mike Tirico. Al Michaels is out due for COVID-19 reasons.
Jones won’t be playing on Sunday either as he recovers from hamstring and ankle injuries suffered over the last few weeks. Veteran Colt McCoy will start in his place, as he did for an upset win over the Seahawks in Week 13.
If the Giants are going to seriously challenge a talented Browns (9-4) team, it will likely come through an effective rushing attack and the defense shutting down quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland offense. That won’t be easy, especially against a team that just scored 42 points against the Ravens, and for a defense that will be without cornerbacks James Bradberry and Darnay Holmes.
To that end, though, Collinsworth believes in Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, who has helped that unit become one of the most improved groups in the NFL.
“His defense shows guts,” Collinsworth said. “I loved how hard they continued to fight against Arizona (in Week 14 loss) despite the lack of offense. Yale being on his resume has me intrigued as does his (Patriots) background. The two-gapping, stop the run first style, falls directly from that (Bill Belichick) tree. Unfortunately for Giants fans, he appears to be a hot candidate for interviews this year.”
The Giants could lose Graham to a head-coaching opportunity this offseason, but they’ll have more control over what to do with Jones.
Through 24 career starts, it remains unclear exactly what they have. With Jones as starter, the Giants only have a 7-17 record. He’s turned the ball over 37 times in 24 games.
Even though Collinsworth is high on Jones, even he admits the Giants need to think about adding another quarterback, even if it’s early in the NFL Draft.
“Should the Giants draft another QB?” Collinsworth said. “I would always be drafting QBs.”
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