Comparing Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston to Daniel Jones as Giants QBs

Pat Leonard, New York Daily News on Mar 26, 2025

Published in Football

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

NEW YORK — The Giants have replaced Daniel Jones with two quarterbacks who have won a higher percentage of their games and gotten in the end zone more often during the past three NFL seasons.

But Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston also have turned the ball over at higher rates and taken as many or more sacks than Jones has, calling into question how they’ll fare with a Giants offense that struggles to protect the quarterback.

Wilson (17-24, 41.4%), with the Broncos and Steelers, and Winston (8-9, 47%), with the Saints and Browns, won at higher clips than Jones (12-19-1, 37.5%) did with the Giants from 2022 through 2024.

They also put the ball in the end zone more often: Wilson (1.61) and Winston (1.5) both have averaged a full half-touchdown per game more than Jones (1.09) in that same span.

Jones averaged 0.75 turnovers per game over the 32 he started in the past three years, however, compared to Wilson’s 0.85 turnover average in 41 games and Winston’s 1.05 average in 22.

And in 2024, Wilson was sacked on 8.5% of his dropbacks, per NFL NextGen Stats — which ranked tied for seventh-worst in the NFL among QBs with 100 or more dropbacks — compared to Jones’ 7.5% (17th) and Winston’s 7.3% (18th).

Wilson and Winston both had more trouble escaping pressures than Jones.

Winston (23.3%, seventh worst) and Wilson (23.1%, tied-eighth worst) both allowed a higher percentage of their 2024 QB pressures to become sacks than Jones (20.0%, tied-22nd worst), per Pro Football Focus, among QBs with 100 or more dropbacks.

The Giants’ hope is that Wilson’s success downfield will fix their inability to generate explosive plays. Wilson was particularly effective on quick, deep throws last season.

In 2024, on quick passes (2.5 seconds or less) that traveled at least 10 yards in the air, Wilson (18 of 30) led all QBs with 100 dropbacks or more in three main categories, per NFL NextGen Stats.

He had a +17.9% Completion Percentage per Dropback (CPOE), completed for 14.6 yards per attempt and also finished first with +1.09 in Expected Points Added (EPA) per dropback.

Jones (2 of 15), by comparison, ranked 46th out of 47 qualifying QBs in CPOE (-31) and yards per attempt (1.9), and 44th in EPA (-0.58 EPA) on similar throws.

Winston (8 of 26), believe it or not, finished behind Jones with a -0.65 EPA on those quick passes of 10 air yards or more, although he had slightly more success based on CPOE (-18.9%) and yards per attempt (4.6).

So Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll are hoping that at a basic level, Wilson’s deep ball can make game-changing plays to Malik Nabers and Darius Slayton that Jones was not able to hit last year.

Wins and points are what matter most. And the Giants are desperate to climb out of the NFL’s cellar at 3-14 and 16.1 points per game as the NFL’s No. 31-ranked offense out of 32 teams last season.

Their projected 3.5-win total on the ESPN BET sportsbook moved to 4.5 on Wednesday after Tuesday’s news that Wilson was signing.

Now the NFL draft looms with the likelihood that another QB will get added to the mix, providing a new variable to consider in projections of the Giants’ 2025 season and beyond.