The Giants may suddenly be down to their third option at quarterback heading into this Sunday’s rematch with the Cowboys, but the Dallas defense intends on prepping as if Tommy DeVito is QB1.
New York head coach Brian Daboll announced Wednesday that DeVito, the undrafted rookie out of Syracuse, would get the nod under center for Big Blue, following last week’s season-ending injury to Daniel Jones. Backup Tyrod Taylor is already on injured reserve after a Week 8 injury.
DeVito went 2-for-7 passing for minus-one yard in relief of Taylor in that overtime loss the the Jets. Last Sunday, he came on again after Jones tore an ACL, this time ending 15-of-20 for 175 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions.
Giants’ QB Tommy DeVito will start vs. Dallas and Matt Barkley will be his backup.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 8, 2023
Not terrifically impressive stats, but now DeVito will have a full week taking reps with the A-team. And Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn maintains that if DeVito is even the team’s third-string quarterback, he’s wearing a Giants uniform for a reason.
“They’ll play to a player’s strengths. So when you saw their system, all three of these guys are really athletic and mobile,” Quinn told reporters earlier this week, talking about watching the Giants in the preseason as he prepped for their Week 1 meeting. “All these guys have the athleticism to get out and create on the move and [on] keepers that can get a player outside the pocket. That’s part of what Daniel and Tyrod’s strengths are, throwing on the run. And I wouldn’t be surprised, the more that I dig into it, that that would be DeVito’s strengths as well, a guy being able to create and get outside the pocket.”
DeVito did, in fact, find the end zone as a rusher in his NFL debut, ending that day with an average of three yards per carry. A week later, he upped that number to 4.25 yards per run.
Jones had been averaging 5.2 yards per carry before his latest injury and was the second-leading rusher on the team. Taylor had rushed 21 times for a hefty 96 yards on the ground over the last four weeks.
Quinn expects that DeVito is in Daboll’s system because he’s capable of serving the same role within the Giants’ offensive scheme.
“Brian’s an excellent coach. And their system will be the thing that we have to look at,” he said prior to the announcement that DeVito would get the Week 10 start at AT&T Stadium.
“One thing that I’ve always been impressed by them and the people they’ve added is the amount of team speed that they have, both at receiver and at running back. Those are the things that jump out to me.”
While Quinn will be appropriately wary of the unknown DeVito, his unit will likely be able to focus more on shutting down running Saquon Barkley, the league’s current rushing yards-per-game leader, and a receiving corps that includes Darius Slayton, Jalin Hyatt, and Wan’Dale Robinson.
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The Dallas defense has been stingy with yardage given to their opponents’ superstar playmakers; the Cowboys has yet to let an enemy rusher or receiver hit the 100-yard mark this season.
Quinn said there’s no magic formula responsible for that streak.
“We just have a really good, competitive group of guys that want to fight and want to be down for the challenge,” he explained. “Every time you’re studying a team, you really start with the explosive plays and say, ‘How are they creating them? Is it a certain player? Is it a certain scheme that you have to be ready for? Pass game? Run game?’ And so when you start there, you can kind of outline to say, ‘Who are the critical guys and how do you play?’ Then from there, you can start working back on your game plan. So we’re always aware of where the people are and how they happen for the explosive plays and the big plays. You want to make sure that’s at the top of the pile. That’s one of the things that the defense has been strong at, is saying, ‘Hey, let’s make sure we’re not going to allow an explosive play to hit us and make a big one on us.'”
Now they’ll look to keep the explosions on their own side as they try to complete the season sweep of the Giants, and they’ll try to make hearing his name called as the starter for the first time the only highlight of DeVito’s day.
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