Where did Daniel Jones go to college? How Giants QB rose from Duke to become a top NFL draft pick

In the fall of 2013, Daniel Jones had big dreams. Perhaps bigger than they should have been.  

The diminutive sophomore at Charlotte Latin School in North Carolina stood 5-11, 150 pounds. He had just been named the starting varsity quarterback by the school's then-head coach, Larry McNulty.  

"He was skinny as a rail, and I mean really skinny," McNulty told the Score back in 2018. "I'm telling you, he took some tremendous hits. He got blindsided by some guys that were like 250."

But the kid was tough, and he could play. McNulty and his staff had given Jones the nickname "Swag" after watching him score 2 touchdowns in a JV game. 

"He continued to be skinny until his junior year in high school," McNulty said. "But he was always athletic, he was always extremely competitive."

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As his size finally began catching up with his lofty ambitions (he grew to 6-3 by his senior year), he started to turn some heads. He led Charlotte Latin to a state title game appearance and was named second-team all-state as a junior. 

Then, a disastrous broken wrist suffered during a basketball game threatened to wipe it all away. While his peers were touring the country showcasing their arm talent to college coaches and scouts, Jones had his in a cast.

The injury, coupled with his late growth spurt, made him a risky proposition for college programs.

That was just the first chapter of Jones' journey.

The Sporting News takes a deeper look at the QB's recruitment and his path to the NFL.

Daniel Jones' college recruitment

Jones was ranked the 2,020th best player in the class of 2015 by 247Sports. After a few visits to Ivy League schools in the northeast, the only school to offer him was Princeton. 

“We were sitting in my office one day, a couple of my assistants [and I] were all shaking our heads like, ‘Damn it, this kid can play. What are we going to do here?’” McNulty told the Duke Chronicle in 2018.

He knew Jones had the talent to make it to the top. He just needed an opportunity. McNulty reached out to David Cutcliffe, head coach of Duke University's football program just down the road in Durham. Cutcliffe had built a reputation as an expert at developing quarterbacks decades earlier, when he mentored both Peyton and Eli Manning during stints as a QB coach with Tennessee and Ole Miss. 

“I got a hold of Coach Cut and I said, ‘Would you do me a favor? Let me send you Daniel’s highlight film. Please take a look at it. I trust and respect you as a quarterback analyst and a quarterback coach.'" McNulty said. "I sent him the link and he just about fell off his chair when he looked at the highlights."

“I watched maybe a quarter and a half, and I picked up the phone and said, ‘You’re right,’” Cutcliffe told the Chronicle. “He had quick hands, he had great feet, he had height, he was accurate with the ball—the ball came off his hand clean time after time after time."

It was enough to convince Cutcliffe to take a chance on Jones. The only problem? The 2015 Blue Devils had already awarded all of their scholarships for the upcoming season. After some thought, Jones took a leap of faith and committed anyways, without a scholarship.

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Daniel Jones and his success at Duke

Jones ended up walking on as a "greyshirt," paying his own way until an additional scholarship spot opened up later in the season. 

Duke's athletic program is one of the most famous in college sports, but not because of its football team. For decades, while Mike Krzyzewski was cutting down nets and building a dynasty on the hardwood of Cameron Indoor, the Blue Devils' football program languished in relative obscurity just across the street at Wallace Wade Stadium. 

Between 1995 and 2012, Duke football failed to finish a single season with a winning record. That's 18 straight years of losing seasons. Even more remarkably, the program went more than 50 years without winning a bowl game starting in 1961. 

But when Jones arrived, things had started to turn around. As he stood on the sidelines throughout 2015, he watched Cutcliffe lead the Blue Devils to their first bowl win in more than five decades, snapping that infamous streak with a 44-41 win over Indiana in the Pinstripe Bowl. 

The following season — Jones' first as an active player for Duke — he was presented with an opportunity. Starter Thomas Sirk went down with a ruptured Achilles, opening the door for Jones to take over the starting job. He took his chance, throwing 3 touchdowns in an upset win over Notre Dame and rushing for 2 touchdowns in a victory over Duke's hated rival, North Carolina. 

Jones went on to have a successful three-year career in Durham, leading the program to back-to-back bowl wins for the first time ever. He ranks 5th in all-time passing yards and 3rd in all-time passing touchdowns in school history, and he likely would have become the all-time leader in both if he had played four years.

Daniel Jones college passing stats

But by the end of his senior season, scouts from around NFL had taken a keen interest in Jones. He now stood 6-5, 220 pounds. He had shown exceptional arm talent and rushing ability in college, and he was being projected as a top-10 pick in the 2019 draft. 

Daniel Jones' career with the Giants

Ultimately, Jones was selected No. 6 overall by the New York Giants. It was the highest a Duke player had been taken in the draft in more than 30 years, since LB Mike Junkin was picked at No. 5 overall by the Browns in 1987. 

He started his career backing up Eli Manning, who himself had been mentored by David Cutcliffe decades prior. 

"I think the preparation that I have been through with Coach Cut and I have been through at Duke is something that will prepare me well for this step, and being able to have the relationships I have with Eli and Peyton is something that's been special about my process and I think something that will help," Jones said at the 2019 NFL Draft Combine.

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But after just two weeks, he was thrust out from Eli's shadow and into the starting role. He won his first game as an NFL starter, leading the game-winning drive in a 32-31 comeback victory over the Buccaneers. Fans were quick to bestow upon him the nickname "Danny Dimes," although some now prefer "Vanilla Vick" in a nod to his improving rushing ability. 

It hasn't always been smooth sailing since then. In his first three NFL seasons, the Giants went 4-12, 6-10 and 4-13 with him at the helm. He took plenty of hits and had to display some of his trademark toughness along the way. 

But in 2022, something seemingly clicked when Brian Daboll took over as head coach.

Daboll helped develop Buffalo's Josh Allen into one of the league's brightest stars as the Bills' offensive coordinator. He clearly knows a thing or two about working with quarterbacks. Sometimes you can even see flashes of Allen in the way Jones can make plays with his arm and his legs. 

Daniel Jones NFL passing stats

In his first career playoff game last week against the Vikings, Jones was nothing short of outstanding. He finished the game 24 of 35 with 379 total yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 turnovers. Rather than shy away from the bright lights of the postseason, he seemed to embrace them. 

Now, he has his team on the cusp of an unlikely NFC Championship appearance. He'll make the short trip from New York down to Philadelphia this Saturday, where he'll play in the biggest game of his life to date against the No. 1 seeded Eagles.

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At every stage of his career, Jones has had to overcome obstacles. He's still just 25 years old, and you have to think the best years of his career lie ahead. But now, as he prepares to lead his team into battle this weekend, it's worth remembering the remarkable journey he's had to get to this point. 

Daniel Jones took the path less traveled, and it made all the difference.