What’s more fun than having doubts from NFL coaches? Nothing, that’s what. So let’s do it here every week. Today: When are you going to decide you’ve had enough and bench your starting QB?
The scenario: The New York Giants were in the midst of a humiliating loss to their division rivals from Philadelphia. The Eagles – and in particular ex-Giant Saquon Barkley – ran all over New York, dominating in every phase of the game en route to a 28-3 blowout. In the fourth quarter, Giants head coach Brian Daboll had seen enough by benching Daniel Jones to back up Drew Lock.
The arguments for staying on course: Changing horses halfway through is never a good idea. Jones’ huge contract makes it difficult to bench him, and a public humiliation like benching him only risks losing both the locker room and the stands.
The arguments for making a switch: Look, sometimes you don’t have to change horses. You need completely new horses. The Giants were down 25 when Daboll made the move; If Jones couldn’t get it done, it was time to step aside and see if Lock could spark the team.
The result: He couldn’t. Lock’s first series went like this: fumble and pass for a loss of one yard, incompletion, incompletion, punt. He finished three of eight for six yards passing, and the Giants punted on all three of his completed possessions. For his part, Jones was 14 of 21 for 99 yards, though he was constantly on the run and recorded seven sacks.
“I tried to create some kind of juice and maybe make a few plays and change the momentum a little bit,” Daboll said after the game. “But that didn’t happen.”
Effect on the outcome of the game: Completely inconsistent. Effect on the locker room? That’s another story.
“I was frustrated. Obviously I didn’t like it,” Jones said after the game. “It wasn’t really a conversation. He just said he was going with Drew. Looking for a spark. That was about it.”
Daboll said both after the game and Monday that Jones is still the starter and that he was looking for a “spark” that didn’t come. “Just not good enough everywhere,” Daboll said of his offense.
If you have to work with that, a coach’s options are indeed limited.
Still, the ripple effect of the decision to draft Jones could reverberate again. So your call: should the Giants have signed Jones? Let us know in the comments.
