The 2023 fantasy football season is in full-motion. If you haven’t had your fantasy football draft yet, then you are probably looking over the fantasy football player rankings.. You’ve already printed out and studied the Ultimate Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet, right? Good. What about doing some fantasy football mock drafts? Fantastic. 

But even with all of that research, you are probably still staring at certain players, wondering if drafting them at their current fantasy football ADP is, not just giving you the proper value, but if they are even right for you or your team. Is the juice worth the squeeze? 

This is where we come in with our all-new Fantasy Football Player Debate series where two analysts go head-to-head and give you the pros and cons to help with your decisions.

Today, Colby Conway and Dan Malin go head-to-head to help you decide whether you want to or even should draft New York Giants QB, Daniel Jones.

Why You Should Draft Daniel Jones in Fantasy Football

By Colby Conway

Daniel Jones vastly improved last season, largely thanks to Brian Daboll’s system and tutelage. In his first season under Daboll, Jones posted career bests in completion percentage (67.2%), passing yards (3,206), and yards per attempt (6.8). His completion percentage was one of the higher numbers in the league, actually besting Patrick Mahomes and falling just short of Justin Herbert, but his 81.1 percent adjusted completion percentage was the best mark in the league of quarterbacks with at least 500 dropbacks.

The dearth of passing touchdowns is what sapped his fantasy value last season, as he threw for just 15 touchdowns in 16 games. While his 3.2 TD% was his best mark since his rookie season, that number is far from ideal, especially with the added passing volume he had last season. He ended the year in 2022 as a top-10 fantasy quarterback, and if he would have had four more passing scores, we see Jones as a top-seven quarterback and outscoring fantasy darling Justin Fields. As the year went on, he settled into the system and got far better. Over the final eight games of the season, his 17-game pace comes out to 3,838 passing yards, 19 passing touchdowns, and another 733 yards and eight scores on the ground. 

Can we see a better year through the air for Jones? I believe it’s possible, yes. While he dealt with the fifth-highest drop rate (7.8%) last season, per Pro Football Focus, the hope is that offseason addition Darren Waller and rookie wideout Jalin Hyatt improve the overall production and talent level of the receiving core. Hyatt is an absolute burner, which should help open things for the rest of the team, while Waller is one of the better tight ends in the league, when healthy.

Daboll’s system is always going to utilize the mobility of his quarterback, and Jones’ rushing ability gives him a very safe fantasy floor. When quarterbacks run, and run a good bit, they tend to see their fantasy scoring rise, simply because they can get a bunch of fantasy points quickly on the ground. Look at this way: Last year, he averaged 44.3 rushing yards and 0.4375 touchdowns per game on the ground. If we do the math and say that his 0.4375 touchdowns per game comes out to 2.625 fantasy points per game, Jones’ legs account for seven fantasy points per game! While not a perfect viewpoint for this, it’s like he starts the “game” up seven to zero on a quarterback who doesn’t run. That’s immensely valuable!

Rushing quarterbacks have a higher floor in fantasy football, and that’s just the way it is. If Jones is going to run for 700+ yards again, he’s a shoo-in for a top-12 finish at worst this season. Seeing as he’s the QB14 off the board since June 1, per NFC data, he’s a great value! Now, imagine if the additions to the passing offense allow Jones to provide more through the air… Could we see another top-10 finish from Jones in 2023? Absolutely.

 

Why You Should Not Draft Daniel Jones in Fantasy Football

By Dan Malin

Things are looking less bleak for the New York Giants than they were a couple weeks ago. Saquon Barkley is back on a one-year deal that’ll pay him just a little bit more than the franchise tag would have. At the end of July, the organization then locked up Andrew Thomas who was a second-team All-Pro last season at left tackle. Obviously, these are two signings that have to please the franchise’s quarterback, Daniel Jones. All signs point to Jones following up on his fantasy football success from 2022. But I’m not ready to anoint him as a guaranteed top ten quarterback just yet and this is why you can avoid him for the 2023 fantasy football season.

Right off the bat, Jones has shown he’s not capable of putting up big passing numbers. And before you counter with what he did with his legs in 2022, let me just remind you that he was in a contract year. And he was rewarded in the offseason. To expect Jones to rush for 700+ yards again seems a little aggressive. He totaled five rushing touchdowns in his first three years and then recorded seven last year. By all accounts he overperformed and if you reaped the rewards last year, I tip my cap to you. The quality of his passing and volume are both still an issue. Would it surprise anybody if the Giants wanted Jones to run less after paying him? Sure, he’ll get some quarterback sneaks and maybe rush for 300-400 yards but we should pump the brakes on expecting 550+ rushing yards being his new normal.

Another big concern I have is that the NFC East got a horrendous draw when looking at the schedule. The Giants will have to play the Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, and Philadelphia Eagles defenses twice (as they do every year) and that’s no easy task. Additionally, they also have to go up against the defenses of the AFC East and NFC West compared to last season when they had a much easier go of it against the NFC North and AFC South.

Last season in 16 games, Jones threw for 3,205 yards. That’s basically 200 yards per game. He also has 60 passing touchdowns in four seasons with 24 of those coming in his rookie year. Granted he missed a handful of games in 2021, but he’s never thrown more than 500 pass attempts in his four-year career. Some players can get a pass. Not everybody is Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, or Joe Burrow. But it’s not that Jones has never thrown for 4,000 yards in a season. He’s never really come close to even 3,500 yards in a year. Are we really expecting an improvement in passing yards while maintaining good rushing totals against a far more difficult schedule for this offense? I’m willing to pass here and target a quarterback a few rounds later. 

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