Putting the Tommy DeVito experience as NY Giants QB in perspective: Too many lost theirs

EAST RUTHERFORD - Tommy DeVito's benching as the starting quarterback of the New York Giants is being celebrated in some circles as if the opportunity he earned was granted because he won a hometown contest to be an NFL player for a day or something like that.

Through hard work, persistence and a skill set that is still growing, not to mention two twists of fate that led to his ascension on the depth chart, DeVito has had to fight for everything he got with the Giants since he walked into the building with a guaranteed salary of $10,000 and a long shot dream to make the team.

To insist DeVito's journey is now finished is shortsighted, and treating it as such is unfair.

Let's bring some perspective to the "Tommy Cutlets" experience as Tyrod Taylor reclaims the starting job for Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams, returning DeVito to the role as his backup:

Too many lost their own perspective, and that's not on him.

Far too much has been made about what DeVito isn't as a player right now, and that's fine. This isn't a plea for sympathy, just understanding and appreciation of what the former Don Bosco star from Cedar Grove, N.J., actually achieved here.

It's part of the game and no one should feel sorry for him.

This is the NFL, however, and quarterbacks aren't supposed to learn on the job the way he has over the past two months.

But to celebrate the end of "Tommy Cutlets" the way some did the last 72 hours, it's more a statement about us than a 25-year-old undrafted rookie who proved a lot more than he has been given credit for.

“It hurts,” DeVito said at his locker Wednesday. “That’s part of being a competitor. But at the same time, it’s part of the position. It’s part of the business, part of my job as of right now.”

When DeVito met with Giants brass when he was waived late in the summer, the message relayed to him by head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen was simple: don't go somewhere that's going to rush you into something and ruin your development.

Bill Belichick and the Patriots called. There were other offers that existed going back to the spring.

The Giants were home, though, and the plan from the organization mattered. So DeVito stayed on the practice squad, and it was the smart decision.

Then Daniel Jones got hurt, then Tyrod Taylor got hurt, and Jones again.

Without taking one snap in practice as the starter until Jones tore his ACL in Las Vegas on Nov. 5, DeVito's development had to be accelerated to a speed that nobody anticipated.

Now, after six starts in which he helped the Giants win three games, they're hitting the pause button.

And truth be told, the decision might be the best one for DeVito and the Giants as Taylor takes over heading into the final two games of an incredibly disappointing 2023 season. Typically, when a quarterback loses his job, especially in-game, the mistakes are glaring.

Yet with DeVito, his removal did not come in a performance that included turnovers or egregious miscues at halftime of the Giants' 33-25 loss to the Eagles in Philadelphia on Christmas Day.

Instead, there were little things that cost the Giants' chances, and perhaps told Daboll that his young quarterback was letting his inexperience show more and more. DeVito lamented a pair of potential conversion throws in the first half that sailed out of bounds.

Also, there was a decision on a fourth-and-short play late in the second quarter when, instead of audibling and shifting protection based on a given look, DeVito kept the call on and Saquon Barkley was drilled for a 4-yard loss and a turnover on downs.

So now the "Tommy Cutlets" era is being declared done. Finished. Finito.

As DeVito's favorite quarterback growing up once famously said, and yes, it's Aaron Rodgers: R-E-L-A-X.

With all the focus on "finger purse" gestures, autograph signings and trademark filings, what's been lost in the DeVito story is just how far he came as a quarterback with the Giants, and in such a short time.

Critics have accused DeVito of losing that perspective in recent weeks with increased attention given to the popularity around his unexpected rise to fame, however short-lived that may be, especially to this degree.

We're all complicit in that, in part because of what this Giants team was before DeVito got his chance.

DeVito was embraced not because he was going to supplant Jones as the starter for next year - whether Jones is even the starter for next year and beyond is a topic for another column.

He was always a developmental prospect whose chance to play arose much faster than expected.

“I don’t know what the future holds, let alone tomorrow,” DeVito said. “I’m just gonna continue to be here, be in the moment, just try to give my all, be my best every day.”

Now that he's back to being Tommy DeVito, backup quarterback for the Giants, the quest to stick around and show his worth continues snap to snap.

His future with the Giants and the NFL remains unwritten, without any guarantee of what comes next.

DeVito threw eight touchdowns with three interceptions in eight appearances, six starts. Where he fits on the depth chart moving into next season is an unknown, but he and Jones are the only quarterbacks under contract for 2024.

Whether he starts another game with the Giants, let alone the NFL, is to be determined by hard work, persistence and a developing skill set, not to mention whatever twists of fate are to come - that's exactly what put him in position to start these games to begin with.

"I think I proved I belong," DeVito told NorthJersey.com. "Stay the course. Keep my head down. Grind."

Because, in truth, that's the approach that helped create "Tommy Cutlets" in the first place.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Tommy DeVito's run as NY Giants QB caused many to lose perspective