Daniel Jones
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Ex-New York Giants QB Daniel Jones is predicted to lift an NFL trophy for his new team.
The New York Giants look better off without Daniel Jones, but it will sting seeing their former would-be franchise quarterback who never was lift one NFL trophy after the 2025 season.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what NFL.com columnist Jeff Chadiha believes will happen. He’s backing Jones to win the starting job with the Indianapolis Colts and play well enough to be handed the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award at the league’s annual honors ceremony.
Chadiha’s believe is based on Jones having “walked into a great opportunity in Indianapolis because the Colts gave him a chance to compete for the starting job with third-year veteran Anthony Richardson. There’s every reason to believe Jones can win that battle because Richardson, since arriving in Indy as the fourth overall pick in the 2023 draft, has been wildly inconsistent throughout his career and even lost his job for a couple games last season.”
Jones will also benefit from his short stint with the Minnesota Vikings after getting dumped by the Giants during last season. When he had the “opportunity to be around another beleaguered quarterback in Sam Darnold who was turning his career around with the help of a strong coaching staff.”
Watching Darnold work some comeback magic will have helped Jones, but the experience won’t benefit him as much as the help he’ll have in Indianapolis. Help Chadiha believes exceeds anything the Giants offered Jones in nearly six uneven years.
Daniel Jones Supposedly Entering Better Situation Away from Giants
Jones’ chances of winning the award are strong when the gong often goes to a quarterback. Like it did when Cincinnati Bengals starter Joe Burrow was called to the podium to collect his trophy earlier this year.
Jones could tread the same path when he’s already in line to become QB1 in Indy, partly because of how well his skills mesh with head coach Shane Steichen’s schemes. As Chadiha pointed out, Steichen “happens to be the same man who helped take Jalen Hurts from raw talent to MVP-caliber quarterback in Philadelphia. Steichen likes quarterbacks who can move, and his time with Hurts proved that he could think outside of the box when it comes to maximizing a signal-caller’s strengths.”
Chadiha tips Steichen to take Jones’ game up a level because “the Colts have better skill players and offensive line play than Jones ever enjoyed in New York.”
That last line is a contentious one, despite the Colts featuring perennial 1,000-yard running back Jonathan Taylor. They also boast gifted wide receivers Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce and Josh Downs, as well as dynamic rookie tight end Tyler Warren, the 14th player selected in the 2025 NFL draft.
There are other useful supporting acts at the skill positions, but the Giants aren’t exactly short in this area. Not when wideout Malik Nabers and running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. formed a record-making duo as rookies last season.
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The best plays of Malik Nabers’ record-setting rookie season 🤩
They were both at Jones’ disposal, while the struggling signal-caller could also throw to receivers Darius Slayton and Wan’Dale Robinson. Jones even had a Pro Bowl tight end, Darren Waller, to work with in 2023, before injuries laid both low.
While the Colts can boast a better offensive line than the Giants, mostly thanks to seven-time Pro Bowl guard Quenton Nelson, it’s tough to deny Big Blue gave Jones every chance to succeed.
Giants Gave Daniel Jones Every Chance
Most of those chances came at the expense of the Giants retaining other core talent. Notably, dominant running back Saquon Barkley, who had to settle for a franchise tag then being allowed to walk in 2024 free agency, before joining NFC East rivals the Philadelphia Eagles, rushing for over 2,000 yards and winning a Super Bowl title.
The Giants are still trying to adequately replace Barkley, but the problem began when general manager Joe Schoen handed Jones a $160 million contract in 2023. It was a remarkable show of faith in a quarterback who had been flirting dangerously with draft bust status before a breakout campaign in 2022.
Jones thrived that year thanks to an offense designed around his mobility by coordinator Mike Kafka and head coach Brian Daboll. Their success prompted the Giants to double down on Jones with a big payday, a trade for Waller and a draft deal to acquire deep threat Jalin Hyatt.
Schoen kept on giving Jones help a year later, when he used the sixth-overall pick to take Nabers. Yet no matter what the Giants did, Jones was unable to stay healthy and reduce costly mistakes on the field, like this goal-line interception thrown against the Bengals last season that left Daboll fuming, per ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.
Jordan Raanan
Key play in the #Giants 17-7 loss to the #Bengals. The second quarter INT near the goal line. Giants are trying to hit a throwback pass to TE Theo Johnson in the left side of the end zone.
Both Daniel Jones and Brian Daboll said the QB was trying to throw the ball out of the
Those problems led to an inevitable split, but there’s a reason Jones is not bitter. It’s because the Giants did all they could to help him win.
Now it’s the Colts’ turn to do the same, while the Giants move on with 10-time Pro Bowler Russell Wilson and this year’s first-round pick Jaxson Dart.