Just because Duke’s Daniel Jones knows where Eli Manning shops doesn’t mean he is the right choice to fill the shoes of the Giants legend.

Buzz around the NFL Annual Meeting this week suggested the Giants could be more interested in drafting Jones with the No. 17 pick of the first round than using No. 6 on Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins.

Former NFL general manager Charley Casserly prefers Haskins as a prospect but thinks Jones is worthy of No. 17 if the Giants go in that direction — and not because Jones is tied to the Manning family.

But two former NFL quarterbacks who analyze the position closely – Dan Orlovsky of ESPN and Chris Simms of NBC Sports — shared their concerns about Jones earlier this week with NJ Advance Media, prior to Duke’s Pro Day and Jones’ private workout with the Giants.

Will he get better?

Whereas Haskins makes “all kinds of correct throws with trajectory,” Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray can “flick the ball any place he wants” and Missouri’s Drew Lock has a huge arm, according to Orlovsky, Jones is more fundamentally sound than he is flashy.

Jones crouches in the pocket like Peyton Manning, which is no accident. He was coached by Duke’s David Cutcliffe, who was the elder Manning’s college quarterbacks coach.

“He knows protections really well, but there’s just not a ‘wow’ part to his game,” Orlovsky said. “That’s not a bad thing. There’s a consistency to his game that’s a good thing.

“I’m not going to knock him for being coached well. But you have to ask, ‘Is this as good as he’s going to be? Is he going to come to the NFL and get better coaching than he got in college?’ I don’t know. There are not a lot of coaches who coach that position better than Cutcliffe.”

As the Giants missed the playoffs six of the last seven seasons excuses for Eli Manning mounted, including the lack of a supporting cast. Is Jones the type to make up for weaknesses elsewhere, like a shaky offensive line or a receiver corps without Odell Beckham?

“I’m not going to sit here and go, ‘Oh my gosh, he throws the 5-yard slant like I’ve never seen before. We’ve got to trade up for him!’” Simms said.

“It’s not what he’s doing when it’s served up on a silver platter but when nothing is there: Does he have the physical ability to make a big throw or move in the pocket?”

Stats vs. stats against the best

Against the best defense he faced last season, Jones struggled, going 24-of-43 for just 158 yards and taking four sacks against Clemson.

“Clemson does a concerted job of playing sticky coverage,” Orlovsky said. “I know he didn’t have dudes up and down the field, but there are not a lot of well-thrown footballs in that game. You look at tight coverage. That would be concerning for me.”

“He is so conditioned and prepared to know the ball is supposed to go here. Sometimes he gets impatient in the pocket if it doesn’t work out the way it’s supposed to work out. I think that got him into some trouble last year.”

Jones more than made up for it in the season box score. He faced only three of the top 50 national total defenses (all top 20) within the ACC.

“I wrote at one point in my notes, ‘I’ve watched two games in a row now and he’s thrown for 700 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions and I haven’t seen a good throw yet,’” Simms said. “We’re getting enamored with the stats.”

Is he a CEO?

Eli Manning has managed the New York market microscope with relative ease during his 15-year career, and Jets quarterback Sam Darnold showed some of the same flatline personality traits in his rookie season. But both quarterbacks quickly became the “face of the franchise.”

Can Jones do the same?

“I’ve got a question about his personality: He is very reserved,” Orlovsky said. “I spent time with (former No. 3 overall pick) Joey Harrington. I’m just trying to relate it to somebody it reminds me of. Very kind, very nice. Those aren’t bad things. I don’t know if he is equipped to control an organization, which is what you need to do as a quarterback.”

Orlovsky spent time with Jones before broadcasting a Duke game last season.

“His personality is nothing like Baker Mayfield, Russell Wilson, Peyton Manning, Matt Ryan,” he said. “It could be like Eli Manning. I get concerned with, can he handle being CEO of a billion-dollar company? Andrew Luck is a dork, too. But he is comfortable with that.”

Manning grew up in an NFL family and knew what to expect. Even Darnold went to college in Los Angeles, where USC might as well be a pro team. Jones could be shell-shocked.

“The main difference if you want to talk about personalities is Eli grew up in the NFL,” Orlovsky said. “He was a superstar recruit. That’s in Eli’s DNA. He was many years prepped for what the life is like in NFL markets and what the expectation is like.”

Bottom line

While No. 6 might have been a reach for Jones and he might be off the board by the second round, the Beckham trade put the Giants in the right wheelhouse.

“He has some things I like,” Simms said, “but I don’t think Daniel Jones is in that (Haskins, Murray, Lock) class nor do I think Daniel Jones, through my evaluation, is a first-round talent. Every time we talk about Daniel Jones we talk about David Cutcliffe and there’s the issue.”

“It’s not outrageously high for me,” Orlovsky said. “He’s the type of the guy that I take a year early for my team. Rather than you are on the Miami Dolphins or the Redskins and you need to (start) somebody.

Why?

“I don’t want to undervalue Daniel Jones,” Orlovsky said. “Everyone knows he is incredibly intelligent. The strength of his game other than being a good athlete as a bigger guy is the ball goes where it is supposed to go when it is supposed to go there.

“That anticipates the mental processing for him. That’s not an occasional thing. That’s a very consistent aspect of his game. His ball placement in the under-12-yard game is very good. Throwing it to the correct shoulder or behind this receiver perfectly on the back hip is very good.”

Ryan Dunleavy may be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy. Find our Giants coverage on Facebook.