Giants' Daniel Jones Hasn't 'Paid Too Much Mind' to Criticism of NY's Draft Pick

As the rest of the world seemed unimpressed by the New York Giants taking Daniel Jones sixth overall in the 2019 NFL draft, one person not paying attention to the criticism is the former Duke star. 

In an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio (per Dan Salomone of Giants.com), Jones admitted he hasn't been paying attention to any of the criticisms:

"I haven't paid too much mind to that. I think that's key to playing quarterback, to being consistent as a quarterback, is keeping your head in the same place. I think that just comes down to your confidence in yourself, and your confidence has got to come from inside of you. I think if you're looking externally for confidence, then you're also going to be affected by the negative as well. Just finding confidence in yourself and knowing what you can do as a player, as a person, is kind of the way that works and the best way to think about handling a lot of that stuff."

Even though quarterback was a position the Giants seemed likely to address early in the draft, Jones seemed an unlikely choice to go in the top 10 after an erratic college career.

Daniel Jones NFL Draft 2019: Scouting Report, Grade for Giants Rookie

Per B/R's Matt Miller, various sources around the NFL considered Jones to be "the most controversial" first-round selection and the Giants "panicked into thinking Jones had to be the" pick.

"There is no way he was going anywhere else in the top 17 picks," one executive for an AFC team told Miller. "We run mock drafts and run through the scenarios, and I hadn't heard of one team that wanted Jones other than them." 

Giants general manager Dave Gettleman defended the choice, telling reporters he knew "for a fact there were two teams" ready to take Jones before they made their second pick at No. 17 overall. 

It's unfortunate things played out for Jones this way. His celebration at being drafted by an NFL team in the first round instead became a way for some analysts to validate their thought that Gettleman doesn't know what he's doing.

If Jones ends up becoming the player Gettleman believes him to be, Giants fans won't care what was said on draft night in 2019. It's a lot of pressure to put on a rookie quarterback, but his ability to tune out this noise will serve him well moving forward.