Giants must ditch blind-faith evaluation approach this training camp

Joe Schoen needs to listen to his own words of wisdom.

And then ask head coach Brian Daboll and the Giants’ other key decision-makers to remember them over the next few weeks.

“The best predictor of the future is the past,” the general manager said during a meeting shown on “Hard Knocks.”

When it comes to self-scouting during training camp, the Giants’ recent past reads like an epitaph for lost seasons.

Too frequently, obvious repeat warning signs during preseason practices — missed blocks, blown coverages and inability to create route separation, to be more precise — that are raised as concerns by spectators have been overlooked internally for the sake of not admitting to a sunk investment.

Or in a transparent attempt to rebuild a player’s confidence because of a lack of suitable alternatives.

If the Giants make the same mistake by evaluating right tackle Evan Neal, cornerback Cor’Dale Flott or any of their other unproven projected starters with blind faith instead of trusting their eyes in training camp, there is plenty of past evidence for how the future will turn out.

Head coach Pat Shurmur declared draft bust Ereck Flowers was doing “great” and the Giants were “a better team with him than without him” … on the way to benching him after two starts and cutting him after five games in 2018.

One year later, Shurmur had “confidence” in career special-teamer Antonio Hamilton as a starting cornerback … before pulling the plug on the experiment in the second half of the season-opener.

Joe Judge, Shurmur’s successor, saw “a lot of improvement” from cornerback Corey Ballentine as he made the jump in 2020 from seldom-used rookie to starter … who was replaced in Week 3 and cut by November.

The overvaluation trend has continued under Daboll, who was “really pleased” with how free-agent bust Kenny Golladay “acclimated himself well” to a new offense in 2022 … as a precursor to a quiet Week 1, a benching in Week 2 and a season total of six catches.

Daboll’s unusual three-guard snap-by-snap rotation employed last August resulted in Mark Glowinski emerging as a Week 1 starter … who kept the job for one game.

Most obvious of all, Eric Gray’s shakiness catching punts in practice didn’t stop Daboll from claiming that Gray was “making good decisions” and Schoen from admittedly shoe-horning the rookie into the lineup, which led to three game-day fumbles and other misplays before he was simultaneously injured and pulled in Week 7.

The proof is right there: Scrambling to adjust in September is too late.

Schoen and Daboll need to assemble the best possible lineup ahead of Week 1 — even if it means spending some of their $11.7 million in salary-cap space to upgrade in free agency — because the schedule is unforgiving.

The Giants’ two best chances to win a game in the first half of the season are in the first two weeks — as one-point home favorites against the Vikings and as three-point road underdogs against the Commanders, according to DraftKings’ look-ahead betting lines.

The quickest way to start 0-2 for the sixth time in eight years is to extend undeserved long leashes.

Neal’s inactivity during the spring — including an apparent setback in his rehab from ankle surgery — combined with his underwhelming two-year résumé already has some in the organization privately ruing a missed opportunity to be more aggressive in drafting Joe Alt (picked No. 5 by the Chargers) rather than waiting for electric receiver Malik Nabers at No. 6.

The insurance plan if Neal fails again either is Josh Ezeudu — who already flopped at left tackle — or a complex offensive line disruption to change left guard Jermaine Eluemunor’s position. It is no certainty that Ezeudu will fare better on the right side, which essentially guarantees that the Giants will do what all regimes do and give unearned extra chances to a former first-round pick.

It won’t be the first time an exception is made for Neal. Tyre Phillips was cut last camp despite outplaying Neal when given a shot in 2022 and again after his return to the team in 2023.

On the other side of the ball, Schoen joked during “Hard Knocks” that he might be able to play cornerback with the Giants’ improved pass rush speeding up opposing quarterbacks. Maybe that explains his quiet approach to the position.

The Giants are all-in on Flott as an outside starter despite how quickly he lost his starting job in the slot when rookie Tre Hawkins emerged last summer. That too proved to be a misjudgment — albeit a less obvious one — as Hawkins went from Week 1 starter to Week 2 backup to Week 4 disappearance, while Flott ultimately worked his way back.

The top in-house alternatives to Flott are Hawkins, Tre Herndon, David Long Jr. and Darnay Holmes — none of whom has any guaranteed salary, suggesting low expectations.

So, the Giants can start training camp July 23 believing that Neal, Flott and others taking on big roles, including Ezeudu, will make the rare kind of big jump that left tackle Andrew Thomas did between his first and second, and second and third seasons.

Daboll can throw around words like “confidence” and “improvement” in the media.

But the Giants most need to make honest self-assessments during training camp.

Or the next pearl of wisdom applying to this season will be, “It was over before it started.”