Will a fan base in a different city ever be thankful that Daniel Jones is their quarterback, the way the good people in Seattl꧋e and the north-country folk in Minneapolis are currently appreciative of their guys behind center?
Sometimes getting out and moving on is best for all concerned. The Giants are not there yet with Jones, who has already been given more of a lifespan with the team that selected him high in an NFL draft than Geno Smith and Sam Darnold were granted with the Jets. Da♕rnold this season has already taken the Giants to the woodshed and Smith gets his shot with the Seahawksꩵ, Sunday afternoon at Lumen Field.
One of the quarterbacks in Seattle🤡 this weekend, after a nomadic NFL journey, has found a home. The other has remained in the same spot for six years but has really not put down roots and there is a far better chance that he is elsewhere in 2025 than the likelihood he stays put.
“It’s impressive to do what he’s done,’’ Jones told The Post Wednesday, seated at his locker after practice. “Obviously he’s extremely talented, throws the ball really well. I didn’t watch him a ton when he was younger in the league, I’m assuming he always had that kind of ability and it’s impressive to watch him play. You can tell he sees it well, understands what he’💜s seeing, gets the ball in the right spot and throws it well.
“I think every situation ⛎is a little bit different. Being on the same page with your guys and building it together, building that chemistry and time on task and having guys you trust goes a long way. I think you’ve seen that in some of those guys.’’
Smith, at the helm of a team that is 3-1, is one of the greatest reclamation projects at the quarterback position the league has ever seen, although Darnold🐭 is currently the NFL’s top-rated quarterback for the unbeaten Vikings. What is it about these former Jets saviors finding different teams to save?
How much do the Seahawks trust Smith? He leads the league in ♑pass attempts (159), completions (115) and passing yards (1,182). Sure, he has big-time weapons in receivers DK Metcalf, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Tyler Lockett and tight end Noah Fant, but not anyone can get the ball to targets, no matter how skilled. Last week, Smith stood tall in the pocket and delivered, hitting on 38 of 56 passes for 395 yards in a wild 42-29 loss in Detroit.
It is quite the career turnaround. Smith was a punch line with the Jets — and not only because he once got punched out by a teammate — with a four-year record of 12-18, 28 t📖ouchdown passes and 36 interceptions. T𝔍he only reason he did not get run out of town was because the Giants in 2017 signed him to be Eli Manning’s backup, keeping Smith very much in town, trading green for blue.
Smith’s brief time with the Giants was so unpopular with the masses that his starting one game, replacing the beloved Manning, created such an uproar that those who si🃏gned off on the move — coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese — were f♔ired the very next day.
Th♎e league was not filled with believers. Smith sat on the Chargers bench in 2018 behind Philip Rivers and sat behind Russell Wilson in Seattle in 2020 and 2021. When Wilson’s decade-long run with the Seahawks came to an end, it did not seem as if the franchise had any sort of cogent succession plan. Geno Smith? You have got to be kidding.
I♓t has worked out for a 33-year-old who has defied th♒e odds, and the abuse.
“That’s a guy you don’t always want to mess with, too,’’ Giants backup Drew Lock, a teammate of Smith’s in Seattle last season, said. “A guy that has come through what he has come through, there’s nothing really you can throw at him that is going to shapeꦗ him at this point.’’
Lock said he did not de♋tect any psychic scars on Smith. The way he has risen, it demands you now must look at him differently.
“Yeah, I🅠 think you have to,’’ coach Brian Daboll said. “Sometimes you go through some tough times. It seems like the past few years a lot of quarterbacks have been going through a fair amount of that. He’s played football at a lot of different places and he’s a veteran that’s really settled in and is making really good decisions and throwing the ball well.
“You can see how he ✅bounces back in games, too. The first game against Denver, sack on the first play and interception on the next play. He just keeps on chugging along. I’ve got a lot of respect for him and his career and journey in this league and how 🎀he’s playing and looks like leading their team right now.’’
Jones’ career and journey are ongoing, in the same place they st🍬arted. For how much longer, no one knows. There cannot be a second act until there is an exit.
