And then along came Jones, just in time for the Giants

David Gettleman gets proven right, in absentia

He had been the MVP of three postseason games already. Sure, we’re talking about the Quick Lane Bowl, the Independence Bowl and the Senior Bowl, but it’s all relative, and Daniel Jones handled them in a way that impressed some scouts and infatuated one in particular.

“You’ve been married a long time — did you wait for your wife to come to you?” David Gettleman asked a skeptical reporter.

He was the general manager of the New York Giants, in the aftermath of Eli Manning, and he was being asked to justify taking Jones with the sixth pick of the first round of the 2019 draft.

On Sunday, in his first NFL postseason game, Jones walked down the aisle, and Giants fans hummed “Ode To Joy.”

He connected on 24 of 35 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran 17 times for 78 yards, with no turnovers. The Giants went to Minnesota and won, 31-24, extending their unthinkable season, and on Saturday night they go to Philadelphia, the No. 1 NFC seed.

There’s a suspicion the Eagles are in trouble, stirred up by Eagles’ fans who spend their lives in the small dictionary space beween paranoia and panic. It’s probably baseless, but the Giants ride confidently down the turnpike. They have the running back, the defense and finally the quarterback to win for a while.

Having preapred this souffle by drafting Jones, running back Saquan Barkley and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence among others, Gettleman is happy to receive apologies and compliments, but he’d rather be in the kitchen, still. He “retired” after a 4-13 season, which followed a 6-10, a 4-12 and a 5-11. Mostly he was blamed for picking Jones. “We’ll see how crazy I am in four years,” he said, prophetically, when it happened.

It was a long four years. The next pick was The Other Josh Allen, who has become a depeendable defender in Jacksonvile. The draft smarties thought the Giants should have taken Dwayne Haskins, which Washington did at No. 15, or Drew Lock, which Denver did at No. 42. Haskins had his chances and didn’t take advantage, wound up with Pittsburgh and died, tragically, while walking on a freeway in Miami. Lock also had his chances at Denver and was traded to Seattle, where he couldn’t beat out Geno Smith.

Jones started the third game of his career. The Giants actually won his first two starts. But he suffered 12 interceptions and lost 11 fumbles in 2019, was sacked 45 times with 10 interceptions in 2020, and endured 22 sacks and 11 interceptions in 11 games last season. He was hurt and missed the final six games of 2021, all of which the Giants lost.

He was undeniably tough and he was a true threat on called runs. He also put his personality in neutral and endured the car-wash atmosphere of New York, where you dare not read the tabloids without calamine lotion. But he also didn’t look like a facsimile of Peyton Manning at the same age, as NFL draft sage Gil Brandt had observed. A fifth-year option was coming up and the Giants declined it. They gave him something more valuable.

Brian Daboll had been in Buffalo, as the offensive coordinator who tutored Real Josh Allen. The Giants hired him as head coach. Mike Kafka had been in Kansas City, as the quarterback coach who polished up the few blemishes on Patrick Mahomes. The Giants hired him as offensive coordinator. Before them Jones had Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge as head coaches and Mike Shula and Jason Garrett as offensive coordinators. That’s too many voices in too little time.

Daboll and Kakfa brought messages Jones could translate, and it helped to have Barkley healthy behind him, with an improving offensive line. Jones still got sacked 46 times but only threw five interceptions and lost three fumbles, in 17 games. He wasn’t asked to perform Manning-like legerdemain. He responded by posting a 100-plus passer rating in six games, and helping the Giants go 8-7-1 with wins at Tennessee, Green Bay and Jacksonville. In a Week 16 loss at Minnesota that was distilled, in Highlight World, to a game-winning 60-yard field goal at the buzzer, Jones went 30 for 42 for 334 yards.

Gettelman was part of the Giants’ cabinet when they put together two Super Bowl champs. He ran the show at Carolina from 2013 through 2017, when the Panthers went 51-28-1. In 2015 they had a 15-1 regular season and went to the Super Bowl for only the second time. The Panthers fired him and now don’t know who their quarterback or coach will be in 2023, but, since they again missed the playoffs, have plenty of time for that.

Gettleman was also knocked in New York for drafting Barkley with the second pick in the draft and passing up — are you ready? — Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen.

Unquestionably he made some mistakes, but you can ask Les Snead or Jason Licht or Eric DeCosta or nearly other general manager. Not much has to happen to turn last year’s guru into this year’s doofus. The way you judge a draft is simple. Look at the list, put it in a sturdy brown envelope, clasp it shut and open it again in three to four years. Unfortunately, thanks to cablecasts and their aversion to silence, we have our drafts analyzed in three to four minutes.

Jones, who rarely says three words when two will do, has been undersold before. He was productive at Charlotte Latin High, but few schools recruited him, maybe because he broke a wrist playing basketball and missed some camp time. He also hadn’t finished a growth spurt that would take him to 6-foot-3 as a senior; he’s 6-5, 220 now.

Jones had just auditioned for Princeton and Harvard when his coach, Larry McNulty, shipped a tape to Duke’s David Cutcliffe, who had coached both Mannings. Cutcliffe didn’t even get to halftime when he called McNulty and passed along the offer.

The definition of football success at Duke is a little different. This year’s winning record in ACC games was only Duke’s third since 1994. The Blue Devils were 19-19 in Jones’ three seasons with those two bowl wins. He never had a teammate who was drafted.

It still took the All-Star games, and a winning drive at the Senior Bowl, to win Gettleman’s heart.

“I watched those three series and, frankly, I saw a professional quarterback,” Gettleman said. “It was full bloom love.”

Yes, a tree can grow in East Rutherford, if you give it four years.