Duke Football: Daniel Jones is an NFL quarterback in the making

The Duke Football program isn’t know for producing NFL players, but there is one on the way and it’s the Blue Devils signal caller.

Learning under the coach that help groom Eli Manning and Peyton Manning isn’t such a bad thing and it’s showing on the field for Duke quarterback Daniel Jones.

Jones is off to the best start of his collegiate career and the greatness of Duke Head Coach David Cutcliffe.

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Cutcliffe has transformed Jones from a young QB who was trying to use his legs way too much when the pocket would collapse to a QB who is confident throwing the ball down the field, who trusts his receivers and his arm strength.

In his first season at the helm of the Duke offense, Jones completed 62.8% of his passes for 2,836 yards, 16 touchdowns, and nine interceptions, with a QB Rating of 126.3. Jones also rushed the ball 141 times for 486 yards and seven touchdowns.

As Jones stepped into his second year at Duke, many expected him to grow as a quarterback but he statistically took a step back after only completing 56.7% of his passes for 2,691 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. He was also much more dependent on his legs, rushing 20 more times than his freshman season for 518 yards and seven touchdowns.

Then comes this season.

Jones was stellar in the first two games for Duke, but after he broke his collarbone in the Week 2 win over Northwestern there was a lot of question if Jones would return this season.

To the surprise of many, Jones was back on the field playing football for the Blue Devils after only missing two weeks.

The toughness of Jones something that NFL scouts will take note of, whenever Jones decides to enter the NFL Draft.

As for the rest of the season, Jones is completing just under 70.0% of his passes along with eight touchdowns and only two interceptions in three and a half games. Jones also has thrown for 821 yards in the same amount of games while rushing for 45 yards and a touchdown.

If you truly want to watch game tape on Jones, watch this weekends game against Georgia Tech.

Jones was under pressure for the entirety of the game but in the third quarter, Jones was under pressure again, he stepped up in the pocket and found T.J. Rahming on a post route for a touchdown to give the Blue Devils the lead.

Later in that quarter, Jones found tight end Davis Koppenhaver for a one yard touchdown where he somehow threw a bullet passed a Yellow Jackets defender who was all over Koppenhaver.

Through each game, Daniel Jones is becoming a better quarterback and he will one day play quarterback in the NFL, when that time is we don’t know yet, but you can be sure that it is coming.

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