Will Clemson football’s defense be facing the best quarterback it has seen all season in Duke’s Daniel Jones Saturday night?
Clemson football’s defense has faced some very solid quarterbacks this season.
The Tigers played against Kellen Mond earlier in September where he had the game of his life. In ACC play, Clemson has faced Deondre Francois of Florida State, Eric Dungey of Syracuse, Ryan Finley of NC State and Sam Hartman of Wake Forest.
Could Duke’s Daniel Jones be the best quarterback that the Tigers have faced this season, though?
Let’s take a look at some of his statistics.
Daniel Jones, Duke QB:
Daniel Jones is currently completing 61 percent of his passes for 1,948 yards and 16 touchdowns to six interceptions.
While those stats are solid, Jones really has come along as a rusher over the past few games. He rushed 15 times for 186 yards against UNC and is going to carry to the ball at least 8-10 times a game no matter what.
His rushing stats are little skewed because he has also been sacked 19 times on the season. He runs the run-pass-option very well and is deceptively quick. Now, don’t get me wrong. Jones isn’t going to run away from guys or leave defenders in the dust, but he has good vision and does a solid job of picking up yardage and finding holes in the defense.
Now, to the question. Is he the best that the Tigers have faced all season?
The answer to that is probably no, but he’s up there. I would still rank Eric Dungey ahead of him. I’d probably put Deondre Francois and Ryan Finley above him as passers, as well. Kellen Mond isn’t as good of a passer by far, but is still the better runner.
Jones is solid in many categories and that’s what makes him a threat. He can do a lot of different things and is the heart and soul of that Duke offense.
For the Blue Devils to have any kind of success against Clemson, it will have to be because of Daniel Jones. If the Tigers can find a way to contain him and force him to make bad decisions with the football, it will be a long night for Duke.