Eagles and Giants both have promising futures with Jalen Hurts and Daniel Jones, but whose is brighter?
Daniel Jones #DanielJones
PHILADELPHIA – Back in August, it would have been hard to predict the NFC East becoming the best division in football. Less than two years ago, the division was a national punchline when Washington won it with a losing record (7-9). And while the Cowboys were the overwhelming favorites to win the division in the preseason, there were major questions about everyone else.
But here we are, heading into the most exciting weekend of the NFL season, with three NFC East teams just two wins from the Super Bowl. And no other division has more than one team still alive.
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The Giants, Eagles and Cowboys have combined to win 37 of the 53 games they’ve all proven to be complete teams. But there’s another common thread between these three teams and every other team left in the playoffs: all of them have gotten great play from their quarterbacks.
Dallas’ Dak Prescott had already established himself as one of the league’s best quarterbacks (despite an up-and-down year), just like Josh Allen in Buffalo, Joe Burrow in Cincinnati, and, obviously, Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. In Jacksonville, former No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence is starting to deliver on the hype in Year 2, and it’s way too early to know what the 49ers have in Brock Purdy, but the final pick in April’s NFL Draft is certainly delivering through his first six starts as a rookie.
But the most intriguing quarterback matchup of the weekend will be Saturday night at Lincoln Financial Field when Jalen Hurts and the Eagles face Daniel Jones and the Giants, because after breakout seasons for both, this game might provide the first answers to a suddenly pressing question: which team and quarterback has the more promising future?
A few short months ago there were questions being asked about Hurts and Jones, but they weren’t exactly pleasant ones.
Hurts, a 2020 second-round pick, made a huge leap in his sophomore season. But the way it ended, with a terrible performance in a playoff loss to the Bucs last year, left doubt among pundits and fans heading into the 2022 season.
“People have such short-term memories,” Shaun King, the former Bucs quarterback who is now the host of ost of “VSiN PrimeTime” on VSiN, told NJ Advance Media this week. “Coming into this season, there were people nationally that questioned whether Jalen should be the starter, or should the Eagles start Gardner Minshew and if Jalen doesn’t get off to a quick start, are they going to Gardner Minshew. Now look at him.”
Hurts, 24, responded to those questions by taking his game to an even higher level in 2022, setting career highs in completion percentage (66.5), passing yards (3,701), passing touchdowns (22), and rushing touchdowns (13), all while throwing only six interceptions. He’s firmly in the MVP conversation despite a shoulder injury that cost him two games late in the season.
“Jalen’s been outstanding,” King said. “He’s proven that he can play really elite football and the Eagles were tied for the best record in football.
Jones, 25, didn’t reach that level this season. But the leap was no less impressive, considering where he started the season: with it looking like a long shot that he would ever live up to expectations that came with being the No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft after he struggled through his first three seasons with 49 turnovers in 37 games.
“Daniel Jones was the same way,” King said of the preseason questions. “‘Should we pay Daniel Jones? Is he the quarterback of the future? If he doesn’t play well, should they go to Tyrod Taylor?’ Those are the things you heard early in the year.”
No one is asking those questions now after Jones set career highs in completion percentage (67.2), passing yards (3,205), rushing yards (708), and rushing touchdowns (seven), all while throwing only five interceptions and finishing the season with a career-low eight turnovers.
Jones backed it up with arguably his best game of the season in the Wild Card upset over the Vikings, completing 24-of-35 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns and rushing a career-high 17 times for 78 yards.
With Hurts in the MVP conversation and Jones in line for a huge payday this offseason, and both the Eagles and Giants two wins from the Super Bowl, it’s clear that the future is bright for both these quarterbacks and teams.
But which quarterback and team has the brighter future? Well, it depends on how you look at it.
There’s no question right now who the better quarterback is. The one in the MVP conversation.
“I thought Jalen still played at a decently higher level than Daniel Jones this year. So I would project Jalen,” former NFL offensive lineman Ross Tucker told NJ Advance Media.
But Tucker, who is now a DraftKings analyst and host of the “Even Money Podcast,” pointed out that Jones’ breakout season was even more impressive considering the weapons he has at his disposal: Isaiah Hodgins, who was cut by the Bills on Nov. 1 and claimed by the Giants, has emerged as their top receiver.
“[Hurts has] got much better pieces around him,” Tucker said. “Guys like A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, who are far better than what the Giants have. Even [tight end Dallas] Goedert is a decent amount better than what the Giants have. You got a much better offensive line.
“It would be interesting to have those two guys swap teams and just see how Jalen would’ve done with the Giants this year and how Daniel Jones would’ve been able to do this year with the Eagles. We’ll never know though.”
Clearly, the Eagles are the better team with the better quarterback right now. But it would be foolish to rule out the Giants and Jones in the race for having a brighter future, because of the potential they have to make the roster better this offseason and the pieces they already have in place to support whatever players they add – general manager Dave Schoen has nine picks in this year’s draft and the Giants are also projected to be among the NFL’s leaders in salary cap space heading into free agency.
And of course, they have a coach in Brian Daboll who has maximized the potential of Jones and everyone else on the roster.
“He had Josh Allen,” King said of Daboll, who helped Allen become one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL as Buffalo’s offensive coordinator before the Giants hired him last January. “And without Daboll, Josh Allen has regressed. Now he has Daniel Jones and Jones has improved greatly.”
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So what does it all mean for the future, of both Hurts and Jones and their respective teams?
“That’s impossible to tell,” King said. “I think both quarterbacks are playing with a lot of confidence and I think they both proved this year that they’re capable starters and QBs that can be built around.”
Now it’s time to see what both can prove on Saturday night, with the entire football world watching.
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Andy Vasquez may be reached at avasquez@njadvancemedia.com.
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The New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles both have multiple first-round picks next offseason, which could lead to some big decisions with quarterbacks Daniel Jones and Jalen Hurts.
© Mike Kaye/nj.com/TNS