The Giants’ dysfunction is shown again with the decision to start Tommy DeVito | Police

Tommy DeVito is back as the Giants’ starting quarterback, replacing Daniel Jones for the rest of another lost season, which means New Jersey football fans are getting the successor they never knew they needed just in time for the holidays. But what should we call it?

DeVito II: Italian Boogaloo?

Are the chops backfiring?

I still know what you did last season?

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that the sequel will live up to the original – they rarely do. Perhaps the Cedar Grove native will provide a few moments of joy in an otherwise dreary fall. DeVito was more than just a human emoji last fall, after all, he did lead his hometown franchise to three straight wins (and destroyed their draft position in the process).

However, his rise to the top job does not reflect well on a front office that spent $5 million this offseason in an apparently futile attempt to replace him. Think you’re having a bad day? Imagine how Drew Lock, who arrived in East Rutherford expecting to push Jones for the starting job, felt when he heard the news.

“I have a lot of confidence in Drew and the way he’s handled himself since he’s been here,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “This is no indication of Drew at all. He’s been outstanding for us. This is more about what I thought Tommy gave us.”

Sorry, but that argument doesn’t hold much water. Daboll probably saw what everyone else saw with Lock during the preseason and his limited snaps in real games, and that was a quarterback who had business going for an NFL team.

And still, this one signed him.

The Giants could have used the money they wasted on Lock to address their depth at a number of other positions, but this is about more than just asset allocation. This raises several red flags that this leadership team, general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, may have fallen into the deep end of the pool with no plan to reach the deck.

Ask yourself this: If Schoen and Daboll failed to find a competent backup to Jones in the free agent market last summer, are you sure they’ll be able to draft or sign the long-term solution to the position?

It’s at least worth reviewing Schoen’s track record since arriving here. He’s not the one who drafted Jones with the sixth overall pick in 2019 — that was the final parting gift from Dave Gettleman — but he’s botched every decision since.

Schoen declined the fifth-year option on Jones’ rookie contract, only to give him $81 million fully guaranteed a few months later. He refused to sign Pittsburgh thriver Russell Wilson to a veteran’s minimum contract since the summer, opting instead to pay Lock $5 million more — and this can’t be stressed enough — don’t play football.

Meanwhile, the GM will almost certainly have to select a quarterback this spring in what is widely considered a weak class for the position, and he will do so after failing to select a single passer in three straight years. where the college of players was very good.

In short: Whoa!

Schoen declared “we’re not far off” during his midseason press conference last week, but until the Giants find an elite player at the sport’s most important position, they’re miles away from competing for their fifth Lombardi Trophy. And they’re no closer to finding the passer than they were when Schoen was hired.

DeVito is not the answer, no matter how much fans try to wish it to exist. The narrative that the Giants need these last seven games to evaluate him is absurd. They know exactly what they have in the former Don Bosco starter, who is a capable backup who can keep a team afloat in the short term when pressed for duty.

He proved that when he beat Washington, New England and Green Bay during a three-game stretch last season, and still Schoen felt it necessary to bring in Lock.

“I’m excited to see what Tommy brings to the table,” Daboll said, but of course we already knew what that was. He brings to the table chops – thinly sliced ​​and preferably from his mother’s kitchen – and a skill that is not quite good enough.

The Giants are running him back out there looking for a spark, and it’s very possible DeVito will provide one if they still have winnable games against Dallas, New Orleans and Indianapolis. But what exactly will it accomplish?

They’ll still be looking for their franchise quarterback when the offseason rolls around, and nothing this leadership duo has done since arriving in East Rutherford gives hope they’ll find the right one.

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Steve Politi can be reached at [email protected].