National Football League

Can Brian Daboll bring Giants, Daniel Jones to relevance?

Updated Aug. 8, 2022 5:01 p.m. ET

The Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles are the two teams most have even given a chance to win the NFC East.

And although the New York Giants operate in the largest city of the trio, that's about the only category the team comes first place in as far as football is concerned.

However, new head coach Brian Daboll is out to change that, and he, alongside new offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, are striving to turn N.Y. from a bottom-ranked squad into one of the conference's best.

For "First Things First" cohost Nick Wright, N.Y. sending shockwaves through the NFC East isn't as farfetched a reality as some might think. The main reason he has faith in Daboll's ability to regroup the troupe?

Daboll's past revival of Josh Allen in Buffalo.

"We've never seen a quarterback play as poorly as Allen did his first year in the league and turn into what Allen has turned into, which is an unquestionable top-five guy," Wright said Monday. "It's historic, and Brian Daboll is one of — if not the — key reason.

"We've seen guys have big interception numbers and bad rookie seasons," he added. "But the lack of accuracy that followed him in high school and college, Daboll gets immense credit for that. Putting him in place of the offensive triumvirate of Joe Judge, Jason Garrett and Freddie Kitchens — yes, the Giants should be better."

Wright then focused his attention on the Giants' invaluable QB-RB tandem.

"If Saquon Barkley is healthy, [it'd be a huge help]," he said. "He's a huge what-if of NFL history. You remember how dominant he was at Penn State? He had 2,000 yards his rookie season, and then he seems just snake-bitten since then. But the question for the Giants is Daniel Jones. If Daboll can do 50 percent for Jones what he did for Allen, then yes, N.Y. can shock the NFC East.

"I think what's more likely than Daboll fixing Jones is him getting the team more on the right track, and on that track, they draft a new QB next year."

"The Herd" host Colin Cowherd expressed a similar concern after seeing videos of Jones tossing some errant passes during practice.

"Based on practice videos, Daniel Jones is going to complete 22% of his passes," Cowherd said Monday.

"He's never been that accurate, even in college. In the NFL for three years, he hasn't been accurate. When I look at his clips, I say, ‘That’s what he is.' I think by about Week 8, they'll be done with him and Tyrod Taylor will be playing. I think the Giants are going to be an absolute wreck. And quarterbacks in practice know they're not going to get hit, so they should be more accurate."

Will Tua or Daniel Jones have a better season with new coaches?

Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa and New York Giants QB Daniel Jones are entering their first seasons under new head coaches (Mike McDaniel and Brian Daboll). Hear Colin Cowherd predict each QB's year in 2022.

Jones probably won't near dip near the 20% cellar, but his accuracy does need a substantial improvement if he's going to preserve his starting position next season. He's thrown 21 TDs as opposed to 17 INTs during the past two seasons, and had a career-low 2,248 passing yards last season.

Can Daboll pull off another magic trick with Jones similar to the one he executed with Allen?