He was 29 years old, in his ninth NFL season, and he looked more weary and fatigued than he should have been.
Justin Tuck had just come off the field having, for the first time, chased around Robert Griffin III. The Giants won and Tuck had a sack. Yet, he was gloomy and oh-so concerned on this October day in 2012 about what his football life would entail if this was going to be a twice-a-year assignment.
“I’m pretty mad at the football gods for putting him in the NFC East,” Tuck said. “A quarterback like that, he’s different from Eli [Manning] and those guys. It’s just hard to game-plan that guy. He takes away from your enthusiasm for the game a little bit when you play a play perfectly, and he still has 4.3 speed to outrun guys and make plays. I don’t think there’s anybody in the league just like him.”
Fast-forward to this Sunday at Northwest Stadium and what Dexter Lawrence might be saying after facing Jayden Daniels for the first time. Once more, there is a Washington quarterback with ridiculous physical gifts and fast, crazy legs in the same division as the Giants.
Griffin was the second-overall pick in the 2012 draft, and 12 years later, Daniels was also a No. 2 pick of the same franchise — both were Heisman Trophy winners — and the hype might be even greater this time around, as nowadays hype always seems louder, bolder and more shrill.
“I guess I ain’t thought about it like that,’’ Lawrence told The Post Wednesday after practice. “Our job is to get to the quarterback and stop him. You see a lot of mobile quarterbacks nowadays. Having a guy with speed, it’s kind of normal, you learn and adapt to contain a quarterback with elite speed like that.’’
With that, Lawrence added this:
“He does look faster than a lot of guys.’’
The extra added layer of intrigue here is that the Giants coveted Daniels. How do we know that? Well, they told us. There was that crystal clear video on “Hard Knocks’’ of general manager Joe Schoen meeting with his staff and coach Brian Daboll during a draft-evaluation meeting.
“Have you guys seen enough that you would trade up for him?” Schoen asked.
“Daniels? Yeah, I would,” Daboll said. Nearby, assistant general manager Brandon Brown nodded affirmatively.
There was virtually no way the Giants would be able to swing a deal to move from No. 6 up to No. 2 with a division rival, and nothing ever came of that. It was also revealed the Giants were hot to trade up to No. 3 to get Drake Maye, but it would have taken an unreasonable package of draft picks to persuade the Patriots to do anything other than take Maye for themselves.
Schoen and Daboll were convinced that Daniels could lead the Giants to bigger and better things, and, if possible, they were eager to send draft equity out the door to find the eventual — sooner rather than later — replacement for Daniel Jones. Now they have to hope Daniels is not ready to beat them quite yet.
In his NFL debut, Daniels put on display his fancy feet — 88 rushing yards and two 1-yard touchdown runs — but the Commanders kept things conservative as he completed 17 of 24 passes for 184 yards. His passer rating of 93.1 was far superior to No. 1 pick Caleb Williams (55.7), who struggled in Week 1 for the Bears. The Commanders were beaten up in their opener, losing 37-20 at Tampa Bay.
Daboll wanted Daniels or Maye, and had to square that desire with his own quarterback, who was dreadful in the season-opening, 28-6 loss to the Vikings.
“I’d say I’ve had that conversation weeks ago or whenever that happened,’’ Daboll said. “Our focus right now is on what we’re doing in the moment, which is getting ready to play a game.’’
It was so bad so early that Daboll, three days after the debacle 2024 debut, all but laid down a challenge to Jones, saying, “Mental toughness is a real thing.’’
So is the kind of special talent the Giants saw in Daniels that convinced them they wanted him.
“He’s athletic,’’ Daboll said. “He’s dynamic with the ball in his hands, whether it’s a passer or a runner.’’
There was a game in 2013 that Tuck dropped Griffin four times for sacks. Tuck’s uneasiness about having to chase around an uncommonly-elusive Washington quarterback for the rest of his playing days were not quite realized, as RG3 was not around very long to torment him or the Giants. Injuries took a toll on his lithe body, and he was gone from the division after just three years and out of the league entirely after the 2020 season.
Now, it is time for the Giants to get their first look at Jayden Daniels since their yearning for him was thwarted.
