In his first action as an NFL rookie, sixth overall pick Daniel Jones completed five-of-five attempts for 67 yards and one touchdown in the New York Giants’ preseason game. Jones is already being seen as the heir apparent to Eli Manning, but when is he actually going to take over? If you were going to ask Giants owner John Mara when Jones is going to make his regular-season debut, he’ll certainly tell you that he hopes it isn’t in 2019.
For the last 15 seasons, Eli Manning has taken control of the New York Giants and led them onto the field. During his rookie season, he started only nine games, but he’s missed only one since that time in 2004 and it was when he was benched for a short period in 2017.
The Giants took Jones out of Duke with the sixth overall selection in this year’s NFL Draft and it is believed he will learn behind Manning for a couple of years. While it is always possible that he could step in much sooner than that, not everyone is hoping his journey into being a starting quarterback is expedited.
The G-Men of New York are firmly behind Manning and hope that he’s going to have a great year as the starting signal-caller. As a matter of fact, there are some who truly hope that Jones doesn’t play a single down during his entire rookie season.
On Tuesday, Giants owner John Mara spoke with reporters during the team practice and confirmed that Manning is the team’s starting quarterback. To pretty much cement that in place, he told everyone that he doesn’t want Jones even stepping on the field this year as reported by Sports Illustrated .
“I hope Eli has a great year and Daniel never sees the field. That would be an ideal world. You’d like to see that. Again, at the end of the day, it’s going to be a decision by the head coach as to when or if Daniel ends up playing this year.”
Of course, this is being taken much more seriously and in a different way than Mara actually meant it. He simply wants to see his starting quarterback (Manning) have a good season, stay healthy, and be able to lead the Giants to great success in 2019.
After the impressive debut in the New York Giants’ preseason game, the speculation began and many wondered if Daniel Jones could compete for the starting spot. John Mara has confidence in the rookie and it is very likely that he’ll step in one day, but is not expected to come in 2019. Eli Manning will lead the Giants this season as the starting quarterback and everyone within the franchise hopes it remains that way.