The Draw Play

Whelp, the Russell Wilson Giants experience lasted 3 starts. He was dreadful against Washington. Then he put up a career day in a mirage performance against Dallas’ dumpster defense. He came home with some dignity back under his name to face a weaker KC squad. The result was one of the worst games Russ has played. He arm-punted multiple moonballs directly into triple coverage. In maybe the most embarrassing sequence of the game, the Giants found their way into the redzone and Russ launched 3 pass attempts way out of the back of the endzone. Even on 4th down, when throwing it away is a massive disaster. You could hear the cries for Dart and the boos through the TV broadcast.

So here we are. Rookie Jaxson Dart has been given the starting job. They woke him up before September ended. This is it. This is the final card Brian Daboll had to play to save his job. If this doesn’t work out, I doubt they even survive till January. And it’s probably not going to work out. Nor should it, because I’m tired of this staff. Daboll especially.

In the earlier days of this disaster regime, namely year two and early year 3, the general consensus was Schoen was the problem and maybe we’d be better off if we could somehow fire Schoen but keep Daboll. Slightly into year 4, I’ve kind of swung in the opposite direction and I think Daboll is the bigger problem. I think Schoen should probably also just go, but looking back on more data I think Schoen has done an okay job. The team has talent on it. The cap situation is fair enough and the Jones contract debacle only hurt for a short time period. The drafting has been alright. He has done work to address roster issues. Most of his offseason moves I’ve been happy with, or at least contented by. What I’m seeing is a lot of these moves not working out because Daboll and company dont know how to develop and use these talents. I see a distinct failure of development across the board.

This team has talent. This team, on paper, should not be this anemic. The defense should be relatively stout and angry. The offense should have plenty of functional weapons, and the offensive line has veteran talent and young talent on it. But none of these players are developing. No one seems to improve. Kayvon feels like the same underwhelming performer he was as a rookie. Deonte Banks keeps getting benched. JMS is a terrible center. Evan Neal is a complete bust. When a GM keeps drafting busts, especially with high draft position…maybe the problem isn’t the picks or the GM. Maybe the problem is the coaching. None of Schoen’s “bad” draft picks were rated badly at the time of picking. Not every bust is on the team, sometimes guys just fail. But I see a pattern of talent coming to the Giants and not doing shit. That’s a coaching problem.

Brian Daboll got this job by “being the guy who developed Josh Allen”. But Josh Allen has only gotten better since he left. Maybe the Bills are just a smarter regime. Maybe Josh Allen is built differently and put in the work himself. Xavier McKinney was a good player on NY, and now he’s an All-Pro on a team that knows what they are doing. Saquon Barkley was a star for NY, but he turned into a god on one of the best talent development franchises in the league. Now, and most damningly of all, Daniel Jones is thriving as the QB we wished we had for 3 seasons under Daboll. The guy we brought in to “fix” Daniel Jones as this QB whisperer has been dreadful, while Jones himself instantly turned into an NFL-caliber quarterback the second he got into a functional offense. It’s still too early to say Daniel Jones is genuinely good now. But him playing better ball than he ever played in NY to start this season is apocalyptic for Daboll and Schoen, who kept their jobs in January by convincing Mara it was Jones’ fault the whole time.

Daboll consistently has this team looking undisciplined, weak, and underprepared. He can’t decide whether he wants to call plays or not. He’s routinely fumbled kicking injury situations. He yells at players on the sideline all the time. Players look routinely annoyed and upset. He makes weird gameday calls all the time. He can’t adjust or rally the troops. Daboll sucks. Maybe he works as an offensive coordinator, but he’s not head coach material.

I don’t know if I even want Dart to succeed under this regime at all. If Dart balls out, this dopey thumb of a coach is going to keep his job. He doesn’t deserve to. I don’t want the Giants to just be another Bears, a team that panic drafts a QB at the end of a regime’s thread and then forces the next regime to try and fix that mistake until they repeat it, but Mara tried to give Daboll slack and patience and he has rewarded us with garbage.

Dart, just don’t die out there. Do your best, and throw these bums under a bus when you get the chance to later this year.