Michael Pittman marvels at Daniel Jones’ resurgence with Colts after QB was ‘over-hated’ in New York
Jones flashed during his rookie season, putting up 3,027 yards and a career-high 24 TD passes, but also turned the ball over a lot (12 interceptions, 11 fumbles lost). He generated his best season in 2022, putting up 3,205 yards and a league-low 1.1 interception percentage, which led Big Blue to hand him a massive contract extension.
Injuries and inconsistent play behind a porous offensive line led the Giants to regret the contract, eventually cutting him midway through the 2024 season. After spending the rest of the campaign with the Minnesota Vikings as a backup, Jones moved to Indy in the offseason.
The current chapter of his career is a completely different script.
Jones has a career-high 71.0 completion percentage in 2025, fifth-highest in the NFL. His 101 first downs are behind only Patrick Mahomes (110) and Justin Herbert (102) entering Week 8. Jones has generated six games with a 100-plus passer rating, tied for most in the NFL — he had just five such games over his last two seasons with the Giants.
Jones is proving the type of quarterback he can be with good protection in an offense that fits his skill set. After getting beaten up in New York, he’s been sacked fewer times than any QB (6) in the NFL. His 2.7 sack percentage leads the NFL (9.6 sack percentage from 2022-24; 32nd among 36 qualified QBs).
After playing for three different head coaches (Pat Shurmur, Joe Judge, Brian Daboll) and four different offensive coordinators (Mike Shula, Jason Garrett, Freddie Kitchens, Mike Kafka) in his six seasons with New York, Jones looks at home under Steichen. The quarterback has been on target with quick throws and thrives on play action. He’s completed 76 percent of his passes under 20 yards with a 113.7 passer rating. With the threat of Jonathan Taylor and the run game, Jones has feasted on play action. The Colts have the most play-action dropbacks (87) and the most passing YPG on play action (110.7) by any team in 2025, per Next Gen Stats (second-most play-action passing YPG in a season since 2020).
Jones is the latest example of a high draft pick finding new life after being dropped into an untenable situation early in his career.
