Can Tommy DeVito Provide Giants With 'Spark?'

On Monday, after announcing the quarterback change, head coach Brian Daboll spoke about why DeVito got the nod.

“I spoke with all the quarterbacks this morning before our morning meeting and let them know the direction that we're going,” Daboll began. “Those are never easy conversations. Got a lot of respect for all three of those guys. After evaluating a bunch of things and looking at a lot of tape and being around Tommy last year where he created a little bit of a spark for us, that's the reason why we're going with Tommy.”

DeVito is a pet project of this administration, helping win three games last season. While a portion of the fan base won’t forgive “Tommy Cutlets,” it gave some credence to the idea that he could be a developmental backup.

Now, he’ll have seven games to prove his worth.

DeVito is the only rostered quarterback under contract for next season (assuming Jones is cut), meaning he’s the only one Daboll has a vested interest in down the stretch. If nothing else, New York will have an answer at QB2 – for better or worse – by season’s end. If he does wind up providing a jolt, that’s positive momentum and evidence that Jones was more of the problem than Daboll was.

“We're obviously not playing the way any of us want to play and that's on all of us,” Daboll said. “But felt like this was a decision that we needed to make here and try to spark things, change things up. We went and did it with Tommy. Again, we spent a lot of time here over the last week of evaluating a lot of things and just felt like this was the best thing for us.”

Last season, DeVito completed 64 percent of his passes for 6.2 yards per attempt, eight touchdowns and three interceptions, fairly similar to Jones’ marks this year. But those numbers aren’t acceptable levels of quarterbacking and shouldn’t be seen as such if repeated down the stretch.

The Giants will hope plugging in a new passer provides some newfound life to an offense that has rarely looked competent since embarking on a five-game losing streak.

“He did some nice things when he was in there and he played as a rookie, and I know he's eager for the opportunity.”