Joe Schoen Likes NY Giants Room as Is

In an ideal world, the New York Giants would have been able to retain hometown hero Tommy DeVito, the longest tenured quarterback in the current offensive system, in some way.

That, unfortunately, didn’t happen for New York, which, as is known by now, placed DeVito on waivers as part of the roster reduction to 53 men on Tuesday. DeVito ended up being the only Giant placed on waivers–and the only quarterback–to end up having his contract claimed, which was by the New England Patriots, whom DeVito helped to bury in a 42-10 preseason scoring avalanche last week.

“Yeah, we've got three (quarterbacks)on the active roster, so it can be difficult sometimes, depending on how the roster shapes up, where you have some needs where you decide to go deep,” general manager Joe Schoen said on Wednesday. 

“We're happy for Tommy–he was claimed by New England. I'm not sure how many other teams put in claims. We'll probably be able to see that later today or tomorrow. But we would have loved to have him back, but he was claimed, and we wish him nothing but the best.” 

Schoen said that for now, there are no plans to add another quarterback to the practice squad, of which 13 of the 16 spots have already been filled as of Wednesday afternoon.

That’s a change from how they have done things in the past, during the time Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll have been here. However, with as much attention as possible being necessary for the continued development of rookie Jaxson Dart, the decision makes sense. 

NY Giants quarterbacks room offers promise

Schoen added that he feels good about the state of the quarterback room, which, in addition to Dart, includes veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston.

“You know, we had a good spring, good training camp,” he said. “The preseason games,  I felt like those guys played well in all three games. So I feel good about where it is right now.”

As he should. Dart made significant progress from the moment he walked through the door, even handling unexpected twists such as being thrown into a game without warning (Week 2 of the preseason) and having his radio communications shut off on him both in practice and in a game (Week 3 of the preseason).  

“(Daboll), (quarterbacks coach) Shea (Tierney), (assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Mike) Kafka–those guys have done a really good job getting Jaxson up to speed,” Schoen said. 

“There's a lot to learn at the quarterback position and there's a lot put on their plate and it's hard for young players to come in and not only be able to learn it, but break the huddle, get up there, motion, read the defense, understand what's going on, if there's option routes, and then go execute. 

“He's shown the ability to do that this spring. All in all, in the three preseason games, he’s executed well. He still has room for growth and a long way to go.”

Schoen is confident that Dart will continue to grow, even though it will now transition to a behind-the-scenes role. 

“Luckily, he's in a room surrounded by veterans who have played in this league for quite some time, and I think that'll provide dividends down the road, you know, being around Russell and Jameis,” he said.

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