Daniel Jones couldn’t help but flash that $40 million smile.
It wasn’t only because the Giants quarterback felt the way you would expect him to feel in the second year of the same offensive system, displaying complete command and decisiveness firing every pass he threw — all nine of them — on the money.
Jones (8-9, 69 yards, 1 TD, 1-6 rushing) played one series in the Giants’ 21-19 win over the Panthers — enough for imaginations to run wild:
He could flash that $40 million smile because he has the kind of weapon that he has never had since taking the torch from Eli Manning, the kind of weapon that Patrick Mahomes has in Travis Kelce.
Darren Waller is not Kelce, because no one is, but if he stays healthy, he changes the complexion of head coach Brian Daboll’s offense, and it will be perfectly understandable should coordinator Mike Kafka find it difficult to resist calling his number.
“We have the balance and the playmakers that can do a diverse amount of things,” Waller said. “The way we have to find a way is something that we can get done.”
Freak. Unicorn. Monster. Gazelle. All of the above.
Giants defenders can’t cover him in training camp. Panthers defenders couldn’t cover him on Friday night.
“He’s a big target,” Jones began, “he runs good routes, creates separation, he’s an easy guy to find. He’s a talented player, smart guy, understands defense, understands where we’re trying to use him.”
Who better to help Jones take the kind of leap the Giants are paying him to make?
“It’s a very catchable ball,” Waller said. “He places it in places to where if you know a hit is imminent and there’s no way of avoiding it, he’s not gonna throw you right into it and he’ll give you a chance to win, like if you’re the No. 1, he’ll hang on you and have faith in you to get it done.
”So, a guy you love back there,” he added with a smile.
Waller is a 6-foot-6, 238-pound locomotive too big and powerful for safeties, too fast and savvy for linebackers.
“He’s extremely versatile,” Jones said. “He’s got the vertical speed to run past people but he’s also got good feel and understanding of the underneath stuff also.”
Waller’s presence doesn’t only benefit Jones. It will open up space for Saquon Barkley, who sat this one out, but has looked explosive and primed for a big season.
The tight end can do for Jones what the young Jeremy Shockey did for Manning. Shockey was a different cat, the kind who energized and electrified the stadium and the team. Waller is 31, and not the raging bull that Shockey was, but he has the same athletic arrogance on the field, and it is contagious.
Waller wasn’t perfect — a hard hit by safety Vonn Bell dislodged one ball from him — but he did whatever he pleased on three catches across the middle for 30 yards before Jones rolled left and found second-year tight end Daniel Bellinger with a 4-yard TD pass.
Mark Bavaro was more of a brute who refused to let one defender bring him down, but ask Phil Simms how much he enjoyed throwing seam passes to No. 89.
Plenty will depend on whether the Giants can keep Waller healthy after all his recent battles with the injury bug.
It was Tyrod Taylor who threw a 33-yard TD bomb past safety Eric Rowe to rookie Jalin Hyatt, who along with Parris Campbell, fulfills the Giants’ need for speed. Hyatt had dropped a crossing route on the previous play, and when he returned to the sideline, Daboll had a few words of wisdom for him and then a pat on the helmet.
“Good next-play mentality,” Daboll said.
Hyatt was in for the first series with Jones and lost 3 yards on his first reception. Jones has never had anyone who can run 24 mph either.
Waller, his alcohol addiction thankfully behind him, wore a T-shirt that read: Have you stopped growing?
I asked him: “As a player, have you stopped growing?”
“No, I haven’t,” Waller said. “I’m being forced to each and every day out here … the day I stop growing I’m in trouble.”
New weapons for Daniel Jones. One big one and one fast one. More bang for the bucks the Giants have given him. It was only the second preseason game. But when you get to throw to Darren Waller, you’ll have a chance to look like $40 million bucks.