USAT: Giants Wire audio clip

USAT: Giants Wire

Jan 30, 2022

Back in 2018, while on a scouting trip for the Buffalo Bills, current New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen headed out to Northwestern for a look at quarterback Clayton Thorson. - At the time, the Bills were in need of a quarterback and were casting a wide evaluation net. What Schoen didn’t expect however, was stumbling upon a Duke quarterback that impressed more than Thorson. - “In 2018, I went to see Clayton Thorson. He was (expected) to be in that draft and it was Northwestern versus Duke, it was like an academic bowl,” Schoen recalled to Giants.com. “I was actually the only scout there, and Daniel Jones played really well that day. I remember going back to Brandon Beane and saying, ‘Hey, the best quarterback in that game yesterday was this young kid from Duke, he’s from Charlotte,’ and that was my first exposure to him.” - Jones, of course, would not declare for the NFL draft until the following year. The Bills, meanwhile, would end up selecting Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen. - When the 2019 NFL draft rolled around, the Bills were no longer putting much time into the quarterbacks, but still had good grades on Jones, who ultimately went to the Giants at No. 6 overall. - “We had good grades on him in Buffalo when he came out, but I think that position is a little bit different than the rest and you’ve got to do a lot of homework and spend time with those guys. We liked the physical ability and liked the type of kid he is,” Schoen added. - With Schoen now in charge and Brian Daboll having been hired as the head coach, they will get their hands on Jones all of these years later and look to resurrect his teetering career. - The good news? Both Schoen and Daboll love Jones’ athleticism, size, speed and talent. - “I’ve looked at him and you know, I wasn’t here in the past, I don’t know what he was told what to do, but I do know this: he’s a great kid, he’s been in the building the last two days I’ve talked to him. There’s not a person who’s said a bad word about his work ethic, passion (or) desire to win,” Schoen said during his introductory press conference. - “You got to have those traits as a quarterback. The kid has physical abilities. Arm strength, he’s athletic, he can run. So I’m really excited to work with Daniel. When the new staff gets in here, we’ll build an offense around Daniel to accentuate what he does best.” - Ironically, after being drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth-round of the 2019 NFL draft, Clayton Thorson found his way to New York where he’s served as a reserve behind Daniel Jones for the past two seasons. - Follow the Giants Wire Podcast: - Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts - - - - - - - - - - - - - Email - - - - - Sign up - - - - - - - - Like this article? - Sign up for the Giants Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning - - - - An error has occured - - - Please re-enter your email address. - - - - - - Thanks for signing up! - - - You'll now receive the top Giants Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.

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