Poll results: Most Giants fans believe Daniel Jones won’t be the starter next year

The New York Giants 2023 season was, in all likelihood, already lost when the team took the field against the Las Vegas Raiders. Once Daniel Jones tore his ACL, however, the outcome of this season stopped being in doubt and the future of the franchise was called into question.

The Giants were probably going to have a high pick in the 2024 NFL Draft prior to Jones’ injury, but not it’s all but assured. As we’ve talked about extensively since Jones’ injury, the Giants’ situation is complicated by Jones’ injury history, uncertainty regarding his recovery timeline, his contract structure, and the (projected) strength of the 2024 quarterback class.

With all that in mind, SB Nation Reacts asked Giants fans if they believe that Daniel Jones will be the Giants starting quarterback in 2024. A full 62 percent of fans responded that they believe Jones will not be the starter next year.

There are, of course, a huge range of ways in which this situation could play out and this was presented as a simple “yes or no” question. As we talked about when prefacing the poll itself, this is a complicated question. Jones has an extensive injury history prior to his torn ACL, including a pair of neck injuries since 2021. We also don’t know when Jones will return from this injury — he could return by training camp, but he might not be ready to retake the field until October.

Personally, I was expecting something like an even 50/50 split when the question was first proposed. It seems likely that the uncertainty surrounding Jones, his injury, and his future is what is driving the results.

It seems that Jones’ injury and the back-to-back losses to the Jets and Raiders — each tough losses in their own way — has delivered a hit to fans’ confidence as well. Fan confidence jumped up after the win over the Washington Commanders, and 74 percent of fans believed that the franchise was heading in the right direction. That held steady following the the overtime loss to the Jets, likely buoyed by Jones’ return from the neck injury. Fan confidence has plummeted this week, and now just 47 percent of respondents believe that the Giants are heading in the right direction.

Wins will likely be very hard to come by from here on out. So fans will need to see evidence of improvement despite the team’s record. Tough play and competitive football will at least give fans hope that the team can rebound — and perhaps reach new heights — after this nightmare of a season.

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