New York, New York
By John Jastremski
The way the last few weeks in Giants land have been trending, you had to imagine it was a question of when not if Brian Daboll was going to be relieved of his duties as Giants Head Coach.
Now, that was quite the change from where we were back in Week 4 or Week 5 where the love affair between Daboll and his prized new quarterback Jaxson Dart appeared to be a job saver.
What changed for Daboll because after all. Jaxson Dart looked the part and appears to be the Giants long term solution at quarterback flourishing under this head coach.
Well, let’s start with the obvious on the field.
It’s tough to survive a make or break season as a coach yucking up 3 double digit leads in the 4th quarter.
Brian Daboll’s team pulled off three epic choke jobs. The Dallas game in Week 2, the all timer against the Broncos in mid October and this past Sunday against the Chicago Bears.
The win probability for the Giants in every one of those games was no lower than 95 percent in the 4th quarter.
The three losses combined with the overall record of Brian Daboll as an NFL head coach, made the case incredibly easy for ownership.
After all, Daboll’s record of 20-41-1 isn’t exactly going to earn you a whole lot of good will around the fan base.
When you consider the fact that both the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots moved on from coaches with rookie quarterbacks and both have flourished so far this season in year 2, a coaching change wouldn’t exactly keep me up at night if I’m a Giants fan thinking about Jaxson Dart.
However, what would give me serious pause and concern for the future of the franchise is this simple fact.
Why did General Manager Joe Schoen survive? Schoen’s record as Giants GM is exactly the same as Brian Daboll’s.
Yes, Brian Daboll was responsible for multiple 4th quarter collapses this season, but Joe Schoen’s roster has been incredibly flawed for 4 years.
Schoen has whiffed on a significant amount of draft picks in his time as Giants General Manager.
Sure, Maliq Nabers was a home run last year with the 6th pick, but what about Jalin Hyatt a few years ago?
Hyatt, Evan Neal and Deonte Banks are just three examples of horrific drafting over the past 4 seasons.
Yes, Schoen also drafted Jaxson Dart, but if you follow the Giants and know the back story behind the pick. Dart was the hand picked selection of Brian Daboll and if you go back and watch the inside the Giants draft room video, that narrative will play out for your eyes to see.
I can’t argue the fact that the Giants are much better positioned as a franchise compared to where they were 4 years ago with Dave Gettleman. That’s also a pretty low bar.
The roster still needs significant work and do you honestly trust Joe Schoen to not only get the roster right over the next 3 seasons, but to go and pick the right head coach.
The Giants were positioned for the full tilt reset across the organization, but John Mara, like he has done for the past fifteen years, decided on a different path.
Joe Schoen survives as General Manager. We’ll see if that’s another Giant regret or a Giant positive over the next few years.
You can listen to my podcast New York, New York on The Ringer Podcast Network on Spotify/Apple Podcasts every Sunday & Thursday. You can watch me nightly on Honda Sports Nite at 11 PM on SNY.
