Every win the Giants rack up with Tommy DeVito at quarterback means the Commanders’ loss to Tommy Cutlets doesn’t look AS bad as it did that day.
As we know in the NFL, and all sports, sometimes one change can ignite a spark that completely alters the course of a team. We saw it in DC last year when Taylor Heinicke took over for Carson Wentz…and in fact, even though JP Finlay thinks it’s silly that people ar buying into DeVito, Brian Mitchell is one of those he’s salty at – and he flat out said on Thursday’s show that the Giants are now having their Heinicke boost with DeVito.
“I have a theory on what New York has found. My boy Bob Papa calls him the Passing Paisan, and his agent dresses like Enzo the Baker from The Godfather, but I got a comp for you B: Heinicke,” JP said. “They’ve found their Taylor Heinicke.”
“You know what? Ride it while you can,” BMitch replied.
The Giants’ win over the Packers Monday means Green Bay, at 6-7, is percentage points ahead of four other 6-7 teams for the final NFC playoff spot (although one of those will get in as the NFC South champion), with the Giants and Bears right behind at 5-8.
JP doesn’t think either of the latter two teams will get in, but Brian says never say never, and he’s buying into it.
“This is our problem as fans: if a guy is not a first-rounder, we normally don't give him any love, and when a guy is a first-rounder and he's sucking, we always still say, well, he’s going to be good, he’s just learning right now,” Brian said. “When a guy that doesn't have the same type of status comes out, we automatically go, well, he ain't that good. Then he shows us he’s okay, and we say, well, he’ll fall off the face of the earth eventually. But some of these guys are like Brock Purdy or Kurt Warner, where they just played at a bad school or didn't have the right opportunity.”
BMitch played in the NFL and was one of the best return men of his time, but he gets it coming from one of those smaller schools in Louisiana.
“We know how the NFL is: they miss a lot of people because most scouts go to the biggest school and take the other people, because you know what? That's easy, and everybody else is doing it,” Brian said. “But the great scouts normally find people from schools we've never heard of or guys who basically don't have any rep, but then they come in and they play forever.”
DeVito went to Syracuse and Illinois, two Power 5 programs, but he fit Brian’s second parameter to a T. He redshirted as a true freshman and was a backup as a redshirt freshman, then was a middling starter as a redshirt sophomore and played just four games as a redshirt junior due to injury. He was then replaced three games into Year 5 and transferred, and his one extra COVID year at Illinois saw him have a much better year but get passed over as a 24-year-old one-year wonder in the 2023 Draft.
They know his name now, though.
“Nobody ever saw Tommy Devito on their radar, but all of a sudden, he shows up and he has experience, so he should have some level of football IQ,” BMitch said. “We can’t say he had the statue and all that, but he has a football IQ. Sometimes the great young players are forcing until they learn, ‘hey, I don’t have to do it myself.’”
“I give Brian Daboll a lot of credit too, because DeVito hasn’t had more than 26 attempts, and they’re starting to run him more,” JP added. “And everyone’s into it.”