To borrow from the Pixar classic film “Ratatouille,’’ not everyone might be an incredible quarterback, but an incredible quarterback can come from anywhere.
Way back when, one in every of them got here from Morehead State, within the case of Phil Simms.
Slightly more recently, one arrived from probably the most famous quarterback family of all of them, within the case of Eli Manning.
Each first-round draft picks went on to steer the Giants to Super Bowl triumphs.
Entering through the front door, as Simms and Manning did, is the usual operating procedure for landing a franchise quarterback.
But sometimes the side and back doors are open for a reason, too.
Can an incredible quarterback come from Cedar Grove, N.J., one who lives along with his parents and feasts on his mom’s chicken cutlets?
No one goes there with Tommy DeVito.
Not even the Giants — just yet, anyway — after he took them down the sector Monday night with an ideal two-minute-drill comeback for a stirring 24-22 victory over the Packers.
However the very idea of entertaining the “Is DeVito for real?’’ discussion is kind of an unexpected development.
In his NFL debut, DeVito, fresh off the practice squad, took over for the injured Tyrod Taylor against the Jets and was not trusted to throw the ball within the rain within the second half, a conservative strategy that nearly worked but fell short in an time beyond regulation loss. The subsequent week, DeVito got here off the bench for the injured Daniel Jones and looked overmatched in a 30-6 loss in Las Vegas. DeVito made his first NFL start a week later, and the Giants were down 28-0 at halftime to the Cowboys in Dallas before he showed signs he could function as an NFL quarterback.
What happened next couldn’t have been more unexpected.
Through the Giants’ current three-game winning streak, DeVito has thrown five touchdown passes and no interceptions. His passer rankings: 137.7 against the Commanders, 103.9 against the Patriots and 113.9 against the Packers.
In his first “Monday Night Football’’ experience, he was 10-of-11 for 110 yards within the second half for a passer rating of 138.6, and more importantly, he was 4-for-4 for 53 yards on the game-winning field-goal drive.
He was not asked to administer the sport for the Giants. He was needed to win it, and he did.
Can this undrafted 25-year old rookie, who spent 4 years at Syracuse and his final season at Illinois, rise above his modest pedigree and forge an NFL profession?
And, in that case, will or not it’s as a hang-onto-the-roster backup or as something more?
Coach Brian Daboll has gone from saying the bare minimum about DeVito to showing real appreciation for DeVito’s work ethic, confidence, swagger, personality, smarts and skill to intermingle with so many teammates in so many various ways.
(In contrast, Jones, who’s rehabbing from reconstructive knee surgery, is well-respected but spoken about in several tones and terms, largely detailing his calmness and level-headedness.)
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“He knows he’s got stuff to work on, but I believe he sees the sport pretty much,’’ Daboll said of DeVito. “He sees coverages … for a young player, particularly at that position, [that] isn’t all the time the case, but when he comes off to the sideline and also you’re asking him questions on why he did what he did, what he saw, you watch the tape the next day and it’s like, ‘Yup, that’s exactly what happened.’’’
DeVito was on nobody’s radar, so far as rating him as a legitimate NFL prospect. There have been 14 quarterbacks chosen within the 2023 NFL Draft, and DeVito was not one in every of them.
“Sometimes that happens,’’ Daboll said.
It’s interesting to work out what Daboll truly means here.
Sometimes it happens that a very good quarterback slips through the cracks and each team decides he’s unfit? Teams make mistakes on quarterbacks on a regular basis.
Did all 32 teams whiff on DeVito? And have the Giants uncovered something here?
That these questions can legitimately be asked means DeVito already has achieved something.
Asked and answered
Listed below are two questions which have come up recently that we’ll try and answer as accurately as possible:
Why has Wan’Dale Robinson looked so a lot better in recent weeks?
He’s getting healthier. Robinson tore his ACL on Nov. 21, 2022, as he was putting together a breakout game against the Lions. It was an injury that was especially difficult for him to beat, considering how much of his game and effectiveness relies on his speed, agility, change-of-direction and burst. Players at different positions can come back from this particular knee injury more quickly.
A yr later, Robinson was ahead of schedule in his recovery, however it has taken the 5-foot-8 wide receiver a bit longer to return to his top form. The Giants need to use him within the slot, on jet sweeps, at times as a running back, and all those roles require him to be at full strength.
On Monday, Robinson showed he’s all the way in which back with the exquisite route he ran to shake free on a 32-yard reception within the closing minute to establish the game-winning field goal to beat the Packers.
Who was that guy wearing No. 51 for the Giants making plays on defense on Monday night?
We’ve got an Azeez Ojulari sighting.
The skin linebacker, again beset by injuries, played in only six of the primary 12 games this season and was barely visible more often than not. He had a complete of 4 tackles, no sacks and one quarterback hit in those six games, during which there have been long stretches when it was hard to find out whether he was on the sector or off it.
Against the Packers, Ojulari matched a season high for usage with 49 snaps as he put together his first impact game of the season: six tackles, one-half sack, one tackle for loss and three quarterback hits.
Ojulari, a 2021 second-round pick from Georgia, has one yr remaining on his contract after this season. Gone are the expectations that he can turn into a dangerous pass rusher — he did have 13.5 sacks in his first 24 NFL games — and he may not be asked back for 2024. He is simply 23 years old, though, so that you never know.