NFL Week 12 Roundtable: Giants’ QB plans after Jones, NFC West race, is Bo Nix a legitimate OROY contender?

You can officially count the New York Giants among the teams that will spend the offseason searching for their next franchise quarterback.

Daniel Jones’ release after being benched is just one development that highlights league events leading up to Sunday’s Week 12 game. The Giants host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers featuring fan favorite Tommy DeVito.

Elsewhere in this week’s roundtable, NFL writers Mike Sando, Zak Keefer and Jeff Howe discuss the NFC West. Could this be the most attractive division title race in the league?

What about an aggressive Rookie of the Year race? Is the Denver Broncos’ Bo Nix (or another rookie quarterback) getting close to the Washington Commanders’ Jayden Daniels? Anthony Richardson has redeemed himself in Indianapolis, but how will he and the Colts fare against the buzz that is the Detroit Lions? The 11-point favorites Kansas City Chiefs (without Taylor Swift) visit Charlotte and the Carolina Panthers for the first time in eight years. The Harbaugh Bowl also concludes Week 12 on Monday night.

Learn more about what’s hot from writers this week.

The Daniel Jones era is over as the Giants host the Bucs. What’s next for Jones? What do the Giants’ plans look like at quarterback this offseason?

How: They tried to move up to their best QB in April, and expect a similar, if not more focused, effort this spring. The Giants are still competing for the No. 1 pick, so they may select a QB, but the race has primarily focused on Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders. But there are no clear prospects in this class, and personnel executives have already said since April that they will not rank the 2025 QBs ahead of any of the six first-rounders. Like all QB desperate teams, the Giants need to be aggressive, but they can’t force it. As for Jones, he’ll enter a whirlwind of camp competition for a team that can’t find a starting QB in the draft. I highly recommend a friendly offensive system, as it has worked for the likes of Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, and Russell Wilson in recent years.

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shirt: Jones projects as a backup somewhere with a team that has playoff aspirations and can upgrade behind the starting rotation. The Miami Dolphins are just 4-6, but could use an upgrade behind Tua Tagovailoa. The Arizona Cardinals have Clayton Tune. Tampa Bay has Kyle Trask. The Minnesota Vikings have Nick Mullens. Maybe the team likes the backup, but I could see a team in a situation considering Jones.

For the Giants, who will make the decisions? How high is your draft pick? Which veterans are available? It’s too early to know what the Giants will do based on all the important unknown variables. They need to find a veteran who can start and develop so they aren’t too dependent on the next drafted QB. Especially in 2025, which doesn’t look like the best year to draft at the position.

Keeper: Jones will make a lot of money in this league as a capable backup somewhere outside of his expectations as a franchise player. Barring an unexpected injury, I don’t see the team using him as a starter in Week 1 of next season. Not after what he recorded over the past two seasons. And the Giants will be relegated to one of the worst corners in football this spring. That means they need a quarterback in a draft that doesn’t have a lot of quarterback talent. In the past, this made teams unattainable and burned for decades. New York would be wise to take the veteran route before the draft for a safety. I wonder if the prospect of Justin Fields being acquired will excite Giants fans.

Daniel Jones was benched Monday after the New York Giants started the season 2-8, during which he completed 63.3% of his passes for 2,070 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions over 10 games. (Image by Mario Hommes / DeFodi via Getty Images)

The Broncos, who play Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders, are in the hunt for the AFC playoffs. Is Bo Nix (or another rookie QB) a legitimate Offensive Rookie of the Year contender, or is it still Jayden Daniels’ award?

How: It’s Daniels’ prize to lose, and Drake Maye is playing better than Nix. There’s a clear path for Nix to win the award if Daniels and the Commanders fall while the Broncos clinch a playoff spot, but I’d still take Daniels to the field.

shirt: It’s Daniels’ prize for losing, but there’s some uncertainty about how strong he and the offense will end up. Nix is ​​definitely ahead of him in terms of production. You can see this in the table below, which shows the production of Daniels, Nix, and Maye over the last six games. It’s a big change compared to the beginning of the season.

Keeper: Mike is right. In addition to Bo Nix, Drake Maye is also joining the conversation. But they probably can’t boast the relative team success that Daniels is enjoying in Washington and Nix is ​​enjoying in Denver. Voters for these types of awards often rely on turnaround stories, and over the course of this season, Daniels has scripted some of the best awards in football. He’s still in the lead, but how he responds to back-to-back losses could determine this award.

The Chiefs are the 11-point favorite against the Panthers and will probably look to bounce back on Sunday. Has the loss in Buffalo and the Lions’ continued rise changed your opinion of Kansas City?

How: A little bit like that. If the Chiefs had been able to beat the Buffalo Bills with a subpar performance, it might have been over, but the Lions and Bills are decidedly better right now. While everyone is waiting for the Chiefs to get significantly better as Patrick Mahomes gains experience with quality players, we shouldn’t overlook the fact that Josh Allen and the Bills will do the same. Anyone who has watched the playoffs over the past five years will tell you that no one beats the Chiefs. But the Chiefs are objectively behind Detroit and Buffalo entering the most pivotal stretch of the season.

shirt: The way the Bills offense handles the Chiefs defense is what Kansas City is about. Kansas City could improve as the season progresses as they are well coached and will develop key players with Isaiah Pacheco returning and Xavier Worthy gaining experience. But all things considered, it seems like a good year to be either Detroit or Buffalo. The Chiefs are very good, but less dominant than their record indicates.

Keeper: I learned my lesson last year. The regular season doesn’t matter to the Chiefs at all. They transcended the norms of football during their dynasty. It doesn’t matter that many of their wins this season have been unconvincing. It doesn’t matter that Travis Kelce took a step back. It doesn’t matter if Patrick Mahomes looks mediocre or worse down the stretch. It doesn’t matter that we failed to close the bill last week. They absolutely remain a legitimate Super Bowl contender and can beat anyone in the playoffs. Remember, as Kansas City proved last year, it’s not the team that looks best in November and December, but the team that gets hot in January. We know how to do that better than any other team.

The Harbaugh Bowl is played Monday night. The Baltimore Ravens trail in the AFC North title race. The 7-3 Los Angeles Chargers escaped the Cincinnati Bengals last week. There are a lot of storylines to this. Which one interests you the most?

How: Before the season began, coaches and executives around the league predicted that Justin Herbert would make the leap with Jim Harbaugh, who would prioritize a ground game and high-level defense to complement his quarterback. Harbaugh has continued to run conservative offenses, but has recently given Herbert more opportunities to attack. If Herbert takes down the Ravens, he will be recognized as MVP.

shirt: I’m interested to see if the Chargers’ much-improved defense can slow down Lamar Jackson, using some inside information from coordinators Jesse Minter and Greg Roman, who both spent significant time on the Ravens’ staff. Is this a game the Chargers can play on their terms? What happens when this game picks up where Chargers-Bengals left off? Will Justin Herbert be able to keep pace with Jackson in this case?

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Keeper: The Chargers-Bengals game was one of the best games of the season. Herbert were hot in the first half and Joe Burrow played some of the best football I have ever seen in the second half. The interesting part of Monday night’s Harbaugh matchup is how Lamar Jackson bounced back from last week’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers (his -0.21 EPA per dropback and 66.1 passer rating were season lows). Jackson typically torches teams outside the AFC North and earned a win Monday against an elite defense. The Chargers lead the league in points allowed at 14.2 per game, which would push him right into the MVP race.

It’s time to check the NFC West temperature every other week. The Los Angeles Rams (5-5) host a hot Philadelphia Eagles team on Sunday night. The San Francisco 49ers (5-5) play against the Green Bay Packers. The Cardinals (6 wins, 4 losses) and the Seattle Seahawks (5 wins, 5 losses) meet. Which team is best positioned to win the division?

How: I liked the Cardinals as a fun surprise team this season, but I didn’t expect them to be a serious division threat, even if injuries to opposing players were a big reason why. I will stick with the Cardinals because they are playing the best and continue to get better. I like the Seahawks and I think they matched up against Arizona. So the two meetings over the next three weeks could well tell the story of this division race. But Seattle needs to focus more on its running game, and O-line injuries have been an issue. The Niners still have the highest ceiling in the division, but they’ve given up so many games that I’m not ready to assume the pattern will magically be broken. The Rams have been so inconsistent, but you can’t rule out Matthew Stafford flipping the switch and keeping things in the mix.

Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals could be one of the surprise teams in the league, sitting in first place in the NFC West at 6-4. (Stacey Revere / Getty Images)

shirt: athleticAccording to ’s model, the Cardinals have a 58% chance of winning the division, followed by the Rams (23%), 49ers (12%) and Seahawks (8%). Is it really that one-sided? I see this division coming down to the final week when San Francisco visits Arizona and the Rams visit Seattle. All four teams have a chance of going 9-8. Any team that gets to 10-7 will probably win the division. I don’t see a team with a major advantage, but I doubt the 49ers can stay healthy enough to win.

Keeper: The Cardinals are playing the best of any team in the division, and as Jeff mentioned, these two meetings with the Seahawks could end up deciding the NFC West title. (San Francisco and LA have been too inconsistent.) But what’s important this season is teams that are showing visible signs of improvement, and the Cardinals fit that bill. Arizona has won four straight by a total of 45 points, including the last two games. . In three of those wins, the defense allowed fewer than 16 points. On offense, Kyler Murray is lighting it up. By mid-January, the Cardinals will likely win their first division title since 2015.

(Top photo by Bo Nix: Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)