Last November, after requesting and receiving his release from the New York Giants after being benched for Tommy DeVito, Daniel Jones, who'd started 69 games during his six-season run with Big Blue, put his ego aside and signed with the Minnesota Vikings. And we're not talking the main roster here, as he agreed to join the practice squad.
The 2019 first-round pick was eventually called up to the active roster to back up Sam Darnold for the Vikings' postseason matchup with the Los Angeles Rams, but that was purely a business decision, as that move officially entered him into the league's compensatory draft pick formula evaluation if he chose to sign elsewhere in free agency.
Jones, of course, did sign elsewhere, inking a one-year, $14 million deal with the Indianapolis Colts. And after beating out Anthony Richardson for the starting job in training camp, the 28-year-old has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league through the first five weeks of this season.
In five games, he's completed a career-best 71.3 percent of his passes for 1,290 yards with six touchdowns against just two interceptions, while also adding three scores on the ground in leading his new team to a surprising 4-1 start.
And to what does the seventh-year veteran owe his resurgence? Well, according to Jones himself on a recent episode of the "Fitz & Whit" podcast, it was watching how Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell prepped his quarterbacks.
"I always thought I worked really hard, I tried to work really hard, and it was important for me to prepare, watching film study. I think I did that. But going to Minnesota, I saw how Sam [Darnold] prepared. I saw how Kevin [O'Connell] prepared those guys, Josh McCown, Grant Udinski, that crew, and how detailed they were, day in and day out, on every little bit of the plan.
How they're going to study it. What they're looking for, walking through it, quizzing each other in the quarterback room. That made a big impression on me. This is maybe the next level of some of that stuff."
Indianapolis Colts QB Daniel Jones credits Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell for part of his 2025 success
O'Connell, of course, was a former NFL quarterback himself and has been considered a bit of a QB guru since he began his coaching career in 2015.
One honestly only has to look at what Darnold did for the Vikes last year as proof, as he set career bests in completion percentage (66.2), passing yards (4,319), and touchdown passes (35) in leading Minnesota to a 14-3 regular-season record, a campaign that earned him a three-year, $100.5 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks.
And even now, with J.J. McCarthy on the shelf, O'Connell is getting the most out of Carson Wentz, who's with his sixth team in the past six seasons but has played solid football, completing 69 percent of his passes for 759 yards with five touchdowns against a pair of picks in helping Minnesota to a 2-1 record in his three starts.
So, Jones certainly isn't the only one to benefit from O'Connell's expertise. Vikings fans now just have to hope McCarthy is the next to do so.
One has to wonder, though. If things don't end up working out for young J.J. or if he simply can't stay healthy, would O'Connell and Jones be up for a reunion in 2026?
Just something to think about.