Post by calliesdad2019 on Oct 17, 2020 7:50:42 GMT -5
So why is Jones performing worse in his second season than as a rookie? Some of the reasons — injured playmakers, poor protection — existed last season. That leads to the biggest change from a year ago: The offensive system.
Jones appeared comfortable in former coach Pat Shurmur’s offense from his first preseason snap. In his first NFL start, Jones torched the Buccaneers for 336 yards in a dramatic comeback win. Naturally, there were some rough patches during Jones’ rookie season, but his final stat line — 61.9 completion percentage, 3,027 yards, 24 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 87.7 quarterback rating in 12 starts — was impressive.
Meanwhile, Jones is on pace to complete 61 percent of his passes for 3,555 yards (he’s averaging 22.6 fewer yards per game), six touchdowns, 16 interceptions and a 70.6 quarterback rating this season.
It was always going to be a challenge to learn a new system in an offseason disrupted by COVID-19. There was no on-field work in the spring and all meetings were held virtually. Then there were fewer training camp practices and no preseason games.
So maybe Jones’ progress is just delayed this season. But he also had the benefit of being the unquestioned starting quarterback from the moment Jason Garrett was hired as offensive coordinator in January. Jones took every first-team rep in training camp and the offense could be tailored entirely to his strengths, unlike a year ago when he was backing up Eli Manning until Shurmur made the change in Week 3.
One topic that has come up when talking with coaches not affiliated with the Giants is that Garrett’s scheme is challenging for quarterbacks. One reason is that receivers run a lot of isolation routes. That means the quarterback has to read the coverage and then read which receiver is winning his route. That challenge is compounded by the Giants’ lack of talent at wide receiver, so Jones is rarely throwing into big windows.
This play is a good demonstration of the challenge of isolation routes. The margin of error is minuscule on this throw to gain 10 yards, with the potential for catastrophe if the ball is off the mark.
Obviously, the Giants also run route combinations that are designed to put defenders in conflict and make the reads easier for Jones. Here’s an example of that with a basic flood concept that every team runs. The go route clears out the deep defender, the snag route occupies the flat defender and Golden Tate is wide open on a deep out. Jones hesitated for a moment (it didn’t help that he had a defender at his feet and another in his face), but still was able to get the ball to Tate for a first down because he was so open. The difference in the degree of difficulty on that throw compared to the previous one to Darius Slayton is glaring.
Shurmur’s offense featured more of the latter concepts. Chiefs coach Andy Reid and Rams coach Sean McVay also rely more heavily on route combinations than isolation routes.
For all of the quarterback training Jones got from David Cutcliffe, Duke’s offense was RPO-heavy, which made for simple reads. Jones is smart and dedicated, but he’s being asked to handle more complexity than ever before, so it’s natural that there have been growing pains.
None of this is to claim Garrett is incompetent. He’s not. And it’s not to suggest Jones will never master this system. It’s certainly possible that he will. But this should help explain why things haven’t gone smoothly to this point.
The question is how to speed up the process. Limiting the isolation routes and incorporating more route combinations would be a good place to start.
Jones appeared comfortable in former coach Pat Shurmur’s offense from his first preseason snap. In his first NFL start, Jones torched the Buccaneers for 336 yards in a dramatic comeback win. Naturally, there were some rough patches during Jones’ rookie season, but his final stat line — 61.9 completion percentage, 3,027 yards, 24 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 87.7 quarterback rating in 12 starts — was impressive.
Meanwhile, Jones is on pace to complete 61 percent of his passes for 3,555 yards (he’s averaging 22.6 fewer yards per game), six touchdowns, 16 interceptions and a 70.6 quarterback rating this season.
It was always going to be a challenge to learn a new system in an offseason disrupted by COVID-19. There was no on-field work in the spring and all meetings were held virtually. Then there were fewer training camp practices and no preseason games.
So maybe Jones’ progress is just delayed this season. But he also had the benefit of being the unquestioned starting quarterback from the moment Jason Garrett was hired as offensive coordinator in January. Jones took every first-team rep in training camp and the offense could be tailored entirely to his strengths, unlike a year ago when he was backing up Eli Manning until Shurmur made the change in Week 3.
One topic that has come up when talking with coaches not affiliated with the Giants is that Garrett’s scheme is challenging for quarterbacks. One reason is that receivers run a lot of isolation routes. That means the quarterback has to read the coverage and then read which receiver is winning his route. That challenge is compounded by the Giants’ lack of talent at wide receiver, so Jones is rarely throwing into big windows.
This play is a good demonstration of the challenge of isolation routes. The margin of error is minuscule on this throw to gain 10 yards, with the potential for catastrophe if the ball is off the mark.
Obviously, the Giants also run route combinations that are designed to put defenders in conflict and make the reads easier for Jones. Here’s an example of that with a basic flood concept that every team runs. The go route clears out the deep defender, the snag route occupies the flat defender and Golden Tate is wide open on a deep out. Jones hesitated for a moment (it didn’t help that he had a defender at his feet and another in his face), but still was able to get the ball to Tate for a first down because he was so open. The difference in the degree of difficulty on that throw compared to the previous one to Darius Slayton is glaring.
Shurmur’s offense featured more of the latter concepts. Chiefs coach Andy Reid and Rams coach Sean McVay also rely more heavily on route combinations than isolation routes.
For all of the quarterback training Jones got from David Cutcliffe, Duke’s offense was RPO-heavy, which made for simple reads. Jones is smart and dedicated, but he’s being asked to handle more complexity than ever before, so it’s natural that there have been growing pains.
None of this is to claim Garrett is incompetent. He’s not. And it’s not to suggest Jones will never master this system. It’s certainly possible that he will. But this should help explain why things haven’t gone smoothly to this point.
The question is how to speed up the process. Limiting the isolation routes and incorporating more route combinations would be a good place to start.