How Giants Have Tweaked Offensive Philosophy for Tommy DeVito

Have the Giants solved part of their quarterback problem moving forward thanks to the emergence of Jersey's own Tommy DeVito.

New York Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito is taking the tristate area by storm with his "rags to riches" story. DeVito and the Giants have won three games in a row, putting them on the edge of being considered for a Wild Card spot if they keep winning.

What does DeVito offer that makes him such a fit for this team? And what have the Giants' brain trust done to tweak the offense to DeVito's strengths? We discussed this and more with Mark Schofield, a quarterbacks analyst who has done work for USA Today and SB Nation.

Scofield also gave his thoughts on why Daniel Jones's game appears to have regressed, the upcoming quarterback class, and much more in the latest Locked On Giants podcast.

What have you have seen from DeVito's game? What does he do well, where is he still developing, and where does he lack?

Schofield: I think a lot of it comes with the reasons why he went undrafted. I mean, first of all, the situations he was in at Illinois and Syracuse didn't have a ton of talent around him. You know, they made some good throws for both of those teams and showed a bit of pocket movement ability and some athleticism.

But, you know, it was still sort of a project situation. There were still ways that he would have to go to become sort of an NFL backup quarterback, let alone a starter.

And there are certain things that he'll need to improve on if he wants to potentially win this job going forward. I think the arm talent is good enough, but he could always sort of improve there. And I think that's something that I'm going to be watching sort of going forward.

I think--and we've talked over the years about all quarterbacks need to get faster with decision-making--he's been very good in that regard, but I think you can always improve there.

And another thing to sort of watch is, you know, the idea of what is he going to do now? The teams have sort of seen it. You know, we've seen this before. Josh Dobbs (Vikings) this season is an example of that, where you come in initially, and it's kind of a clean slate.

Then, after two or three games, they're like, 'Oh, okay, this is what we can look for. This is what we can expect.' Teams now have a couple of weeks on Tommy DeVito, on what Mike Kafka and Brian Daboll are doing with him conceptually in the passing game and even in the run game. 

What do they do, and how does he respond? That's something that I'll be watching as well. But things that do stand out are pocket movement--I think that's been very impressive from him. You've seen him cut down on sacks. But other than that, he's moving well. He's getting the ball out quickly. And he's been, I think, appropriately aggressive.

Nov 19, 2023; Landover, Maryland, USA; New York Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito (15) attempts a pass against the Washington Commanders during the first half at FedExField / Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

How have the Giants altered their game plan to suit what Tommy does well, and how does that vary from what they were running with Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor?

Schofield: There are some certain differences where, you know, you see some run game elements that maybe they used last year with Daniel Jones but seemed to sort of be out of the game plan, out of the script with Jones earlier this season. They've done a lot with, you know, and they did some of this with Jones, particularly last year, you know, but it seemed, again, sort of missing this year.

But wheel routes, leak routes, things out of the backfield, off of play action, or even straight to rock back where, you know, it's perhaps something that DeVito is a bit more familiar with, given the offenses he ran at Syracuse and Illinois. So you've certainly seen that.

And I think that in a way they've sort of--I don't want to say 'dialed back' the game plan, but you can see particularly in recent weeks because of those sack numbers and emphasis on either getting it out quickly or just taking off, you know because the sack numbers were such.

And I think part of that is the emphasis on, 'Okay, look, if it's not there initially, if you don't like your first two reads, like throw it away, take off, or do something differently. We're not expecting you to get to the fifth read to the fourth read into a play like because of the protection issues we've had. Sort of take care of yourself, take care of the football.

You know, 2nd-and-10 is fine; 2nd-and-9 is fine, but 2nd-and-17? That's not what we're built for right now. So try to stay out of those second and long third and long situations.' I think that has been a point of emphasis, and that certainly helped him because it keeps the entire playbook open.

Check out the latest Locked On Giants podcast for much more from Mark Schofield.

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