Daniel Jones has been connected to the New York Giants for a plethora of reasons: Big Blue's need at quarterback, the Duke product's college coach, Jones' size and demeanor seemingly fitting with what general manager Dave Gettleman wants in a signal-caller.
If Jones lands in the Big Apple tonight to back up Eli Manning for a year or two, the rookie would be thrilled.
"That'd be awesome. I'd be extremely excited about that," the Duke quarterback said Wednesday, via the New York Post. "The opportunity to learn from a guy like Eli, to watch him, the way he carries himself day in and day out, would be a tremendous learning opportunity for a young guy. That'd be an awesome situation."
Jones played four years at Duke under coach David Cutcliffe, the same man who worked with Eli Manning at Ole Miss and Peyton Manning at Tennessee. The links between Jones and the Mannings have been pervasive throughout the draft process.
Longtime Dallas Cowboys GM and NFL Network analyst Gil Brandt compared Jones' play at Duke to Peyton's coming out of Tennessee, saying "you are watching the same guy."
Jones said Wednesday he's flattered by the comparisons to the Mannings.
"Those are two guys that have done it just as well as, if not better than, anyone else. I hope I have some of that," Jones said. "Playing-wise, we've certainly been coached similarly in college and Coach Cut, it's fun to listen to him coach those guys when they come back and hearing a lot of the same things. Through that, I've developed some of those tendencies.
"I have my own characteristics that make me who I am. I'm certainly confident in that."
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah has linked Jones to the Giants in each of his last two mock drafts, with his final mock of the season having Big Blue waiting until No. 17 to snag the QB.
