Daniel Stephen Jones III (born May 27, 1997), nicknamed "Danny Dimes" and "Indiana Jones", is an American professional football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Duke Blue Devils and was selected sixth overall by the New York Giants in the 2019 NFL draft.
In 2022, Jones' fourth season, the Giants made their first playoff appearance since 2016 and won their first playoff game since 2011. The following offseason, he signed a 4-year, $160 million extension with the team. Jones was benched midway through the 2024 season and was subsequently released after nearly six seasons with the Giants. He then joined the Minnesota Vikings in 2024, where he spent the rest of the season as a backup. Following the season, Jones signed a one-year deal with the Colts, where he beat out Anthony Richardson for the starting job.
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Early life
Jones was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 27, 1997. He is the oldest son of Becca and Steve Jones.
Jones attended Charlotte Latin School in Charlotte, North Carolina. During his high school career, he had 6,997 passing yards and 98 touchdowns. Despite these numbers, Jones was barely recruited coming out of high school and was not ranked by Rivals.com.
Jones originally committed to Princeton University to play college football, but then opted to become a walk-on at Duke University.
College career
2016
After redshirting his first year at Duke in 2015, Jones became the starting quarterback in his sophomore season in 2016 after quarterback Thomas Sirk suffered a season-ending injury. Jones started all 12 games, completing 270 of 430 passes (62.8%) for 2,836 yards, sixteen touchdowns and nine interceptions.
2017
In 2017, he completed 230 of 413 passes (55.7%) for 2,439 yards, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions as a junior. Jones was named MVP of the 2017 Quick Lane Bowl against Northern Illinois where he went 27-of-40 with 252 passing yards and two touchdowns, along with 86 rushing yards from sixteen carries for one touchdown.
2018
During his senior year, Jones was named the MVP in the 2018 Independence Bowl, where he went 30–41 with 423 passing yards and five touchdowns in a 56–27 victory over Temple. He later played in the 2019 Senior Bowl for the North team, and was also the MVP of that game, going 8-of-11 with 115 passing yards and one touchdown.
Jones graduated from Duke in December 2018 with a degree in economics.
Professional career
New York Giants
Jones was drafted by the New York Giants in the first round with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft. On July 22, 2019, Jones signed his four-year rookie contract, worth $25.664 million, including a $16.7 million signing bonus.
Despite a stellar preseason, Jones was named the backup behind Eli Manning. Jones played his first regular season game on September 8 against the Dallas Cowboys in relief of Manning, where he completed 3-of-4 passes for 17 yards and lost a fumble as the Giants lost 35–17. On September 17, after an 0–2 start to the season, head coach Pat Shurmur named Jones the starter over Manning for their Week 3 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In his first NFL career start, Jones completed 23-of-36 pass attempts for 336 yards with a 112.7 passer rating and two passing touchdowns, along with 28 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns, in a 32–31 comeback win against the Buccaneers, despite losing two fumbles. He became the first Giants' rookie quarterback to win his first career start since Scott Brunner in 1980. Jones was able to lead the Giants back from an 18-point deficit to beat the Buccaneers and became the seventh rookie quarterback since 2010 to have a game-winning drive in their first career start. He was also named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance.
On September 29, in his second career start (and first career start at home), Jones led the Giants to a 24–3 victory over the Washington Redskins. After the game, Jones became the third quarterback in the Giants' history after Phil Simms (1979) and Travis Tidwell (1950) to begin their career with two wins as a starting quarterback for the franchise.
Jones played his first game on prime time on Thursday Night Football in Week 6 against the New England Patriots. In the game, Jones threw for 161 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions in the 35–14 loss. In Week 8 against the Detroit Lions, he threw for 322 passing yards and four passing touchdowns in a 31–26 defeat. In Week 10 against the New York Jets, Jones threw for 308 yards and four touchdowns in the 34–27 loss. In Week 13 against the Green Bay Packers, Jones suffered an ankle injury, but insisted on playing through. He threw for one touchdown and three interceptions in the 31–13 loss. At 2–10 for the season and Jones suffering an ankle sprain, Manning was made starter for the next two games as the former recovered. In Jones' return in Week 16, he threw for a career-high 352 passing yards and (career-high) five passing touchdowns as the Giants defeated the Redskins in overtime 41–35. In the process, Jones became the fifth rookie quarterback in NFL history to throw five touchdown passes in a game. He also became the only rookie quarterback in NFL history to throw for 350 passing yards with five touchdowns and zero interceptions in a single game. He was named the Pepsi Offensive Rookie of the Week for his efforts. In Week 17 against the Philadelphia Eagles, Jones threw for 301 yards, one touchdown, and one interception during the 34–17 loss. Jones finished his rookie season with 3,027 passing yards, 24 passing touchdowns and 12 interceptions, to go along with 45 carries for 279 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, and a league-leading 18 fumbles with 11 lost.
Minnesota Vikings
On November 29, 2024, Jones was signed onto the Minnesota Vikings' practice squad after clearing waivers several days prior. Jones remained on the practice squad throughout December as he continued to learn the playbook, though the Vikings also looked at him as a potential option if starter Sam Darnold left the team in 2025.
He was promoted to the active roster on January 7, 2025, with Brett Rypien being waived to make room for Jones. Jones was the emergency quarterback behind Darnold and Nick Mullens for the Vikings' Wild Card game against the Los Angeles Rams.
Indianapolis Colts
On March 13, 2025, Jones signed with the Indianapolis Colts on a one-year, $14 million contract. His signing came after comments by general manager Chris Ballard saying that there will be an "open competition" with Anthony Richardson to determine the Colts' starting quarterback for the 2025 season. On August 19, Jones was named the starting quarterback for the 2025 season.
In his Colts debut against the Miami Dolphins, Jones completed 22 of his 29 passes for 272 yards and a touchdown, as well as two rushing touchdowns to guide the team to their first Week 1 victory since 2013. In the Week 2 win against the Denver Broncos, Jones completed 23 of 34 passes for 316 yards, accompanied by a lone touchdown pass to Jonathan Taylor. Against division rivals Tennessee Titans, Jones completed 18 of 25 passes for 228 yards and a touchdown. Jones helped lead the Colts to a 3–0 start on the season, their first since 2009. Jones suffered his first loss as the Colts' starting quarterback in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Rams, where he and the team came up short 27–20. Despite throwing for 262 yards and a touchdown, Jones would throw 2 interceptions, both to Rams safety Kam Curl, the latter of which occurred within the final minute of the game on what would have been a potential scoring drive, sealing the win for the Rams. The Jones-led Colts were the first team in NFL history to score on their first 10 possessions of the season, and their 103 points through the first three games are the most to start a season in franchise history. Due to Jones' newfound success as a starter for the Colts, fans began to dub him "Indiana Jones", a play on Jones' surname and his team's location, and a reference to the titular action movie character of the same name. While initially indifferent to the moniker, Jones subsequently joked it was a "nickname upgrade".
During the first quarter of a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on December 7, 2025, Jones dropped back in the pocket to pass; after releasing the pass, he fell to the ground clutching his right calf; he was ruled out the rest of the game with an Achilles tendon injury. The next day, Colts head coach Shane Steichen confirmed Jones had torn his Achilles tendon and would miss the remainder of the season. He was placed on injured reserve on December 9.
On March 3, 2026, the Colts placed the transition tag on Jones. On March 12, he signed a two-year, $88 million contract extension with the team.
Career statistics
Records
Giants franchise records
Most games started (rookie season): 12 (2019)
Most completions (rookie season): 284 (2019)
Most pass attempts (rookie season): 459 (2019)
Highest completion percentage (rookie season): 61.9% (2019)
Most passing yards (rookie season): 3,027 (2019)
Most passing touchdowns (rookie season): 24 (2019)
Best passer rating (rookie season): 87.7 (2019)
Most pass yards per game (rookie season): 232.8 (2019)
Most fourth quarter comebacks (rookie season): 1 (2019) (tied with six other players)
Most game winning drives (rookie season): 2 (2019)
Longest quarterback run: 80 yards (October 22, 2020, vs. Philadelphia Eagles)
First quarterback with 2,500+ passing yards and 400+ rushing yards in a single season (2020)
First quarterback with 200 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in a single game (2022)
Most rushing yards by a quarterback in a single season: 708 (2022)
Most rushing yards by a quarterback in a career: 2,179
NFL records
Most passing touchdowns in a single game by a rookie quarterback: 5 (December 22, 2019, vs. Washington Redskins) (tied with four others)
First rookie to have three games with four touchdown passes and no interceptions
First player to have 300-plus passing yards, 2-plus touchdown passes, and 70-plus rushing yards (including no interceptions) in a post-season playoff game.
Personal life
Jones grew up as a fan of the Carolina Panthers, his hometown team.
Jones has a younger brother, Bates, who played one season of collegiate basketball at Duke during the 2021–22 season after four years with Davidson College.