5 ‘things I think’ after New York Giants replace Daniel Jones with Tommy DeVito

After taking some time to consider the fallout from the New York Giants decision to — finally — move on from quarterback Daniel Jones, replacing him with fan favorite Tommy Devito, here are some ‘things I think’ about the ramifications.

‘Coaching for his job’

Of course Brian Daboll is “coaching for his job” as head coach of the Giants. That became part of the story on Monday, but it is hardly a news flash.

Daboll’s Giants are 8-19 over the past two seasons. They are 0-5 at home in 2024. Daboll works for an owner who preaches and desires patience, but hasn’t been able to exercise any since showing Tom Coughlin the door after the 2015 season.

Mara warned Daboll after he earned Coach of the Year honors for the Giants’ surprising 2022 season that it wasn’t hard to go from “Bono to Bozo.”

It’s not hard to argue that is what Daboll has done the past two seasons.

As of right now, though, I will agree with Adam Schefter that Daboll and GM Joe Schoen will keep their jobs.

I have said this before, but Ben McAdoo and Joe Judge lost their head-coaching gigs with the Giants as much or more because they embarrassed the franchise with their words and actions rather than their unsatisfactory won-loss records.

Mara learned loyalty, sometimes to a fault, from his father, Wellington. Still, that only goes so far when the owner is embarrassed.

Can Daboll avoid that fate? I would suggest winning a couple of home games. Setting a franchise record for futility by going 0-9 at home, with booing fans trudging to the exits early, will embarrass the owner. A locker room implosion or obvious lack of effort on the field will embarrass the owner.

The next seven weeks are not only a showcase for Tommy DeVito, but for the head coach as well.

A bad look?

With Jones having been benched, there is a lot of chatter about how this is a bad look for Schoen and Daboll. I get it, but I think there are caveats. Especially for Schoen.

I have said over and over that there is no way when he took the GM job that Schoen expected to be three years in and still be dealing with Jones. I know because I have asked him more than once about that.

When a new regime takes over with an existing quarterback like Jones, that QB often gets a year and then the new GM/coach move on and draft their guy. That is certainly what Schoen expected when he refused to pick up Jones’ fifth-year option.

Then 2022 happened.

The Giants somehow won a playoff game. Schoen signed Jones to that four-year, $160 million contract. I still say that giving him only two years of guaranteed money was the best Schoen was going to be able to do.

What else was he going to do? Go back and look at his quarterback options. I don’t think you will find a realistic one any more appealing than staying with a QB who just won you a playoff game.

I think Schoen’s regret, as wonderful a player as Malik Nabers is, has to be not getting the quarterback of the future in place last offseason.

As for Daboll, I think his reputation as a quarterback guru and play-caller has taken a hit this season. Not that I don’t think he is good at those things. This year has, though, been damaging.

I thought Daboll and Mike Kafka did a masterful job with Jones in 2022, figuring out what he could do, couldn’t do, and how the offense could succeed.

In 2023, I thought the Giants got away from some of the run-centric and and play-action centric stuff, and asked Jones to just drop back and try to win games. The “way don’t pay a $40 million quarterback to hand off to a $12 million running back” theory of offense.

Jones has never been that kind of quarterback. He didn’t have the offensive line of pass-catching weapons to turn him into one. He took an immense beating, both physically and psychologically, and didn’t last the season.

This year, it has often felt like Daboll has not been attacking on offense. It has felt like he has been protecting Jones, and maybe himself, from what Jones couldn’t do. Of 24 qualifying quarterbacks, Jones is 23rd in completion percentage on 20+ yard passes and 17th in attempts. The Giants’ passing attack has been filled with efficient, but conservative throws short of the first-down marker.

Calling the plays for an offense that is last in the league in scoring is without doubt a bad look for an offensive-minded coach like Daboll.

Backup or breakout?

What is next for Jones? He could be, and probably is, headed for spending the rest of his career as a backup or bridge quarterback. Some version of Andy Dalton, Jacoby Brissett, Marcus Mariota, Tyrod Taylor and others of that ilk.

But, maybe not.

In a league where situation matters, where young quarterbacks are constantly ruined by being asked to do too much too soon or by being thrown into ugly situations without the infrastructure, proper coaching, or good enough roster to them develop, we have seen a few quarterbacks come out the other side and be better for it.

Jones, while he is hanging out on the sideline Sunday with his baseball cap on, will be able to look out on the field and see a perfect example of that kind of career resurrection: Baker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Sam Darnold, in his seventh season, is playing the best football of his career for the Minnesota Vikings. Geno Smith of the Seattle Seahawks is another example. You might even put Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions in that category.

Could Jones be next?

I don’t see why it’s not possible.

Tommy’s time

What kind of quarterback is Tommy DeVito? His story and his emotional play gave the Giants a lift a year ago. Maybe some of that “spark” Daboll is looking for will be there. I think, though, that this stretch will give us a much clearer indication of whether or not Devito can be an NFL quarterback.

Combo platter

I don’t know who the players will be, but I think there is going to be both a new veteran placeholder/bridge quarterback plus a highly-drafted one in a Giants uniform next season.