Giants reveal QB plans amid injury bug

In a situation that somehow looks worse than the 2021 setup that led to Joe Judge‘s firing, the Giants will enter the next three games without their top two quarterbacks available. Daniel Jones is out for the season, and Tyrod Taylor must miss at least three more games. The emergency setup will remain for Week 10.

Rather than move to Matt Barkley (and thus an all-Barkley backfield), the Giants will stick with rookie UDFA Tommy DeVito for their rematch against the Cowboys, Brian Daboll said Wednesday. The Giants have bumped Barkley to their 53-man roster, however, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport.

Barkley, 33, has made seven career starts. Though, none have come since 2018. The well-traveled backup/third-stringer caught on with the Giants just last week. With DeVito having signed as a UDFA earlier this year, he has a head start on the veteran arm. The Giants now have Jacob Eason on their practice squad as a de facto third-stringer. Jones suffered a torn ACL in Week 9, and Daboll said Taylor is not a lock to return from his rib injury this season. That leaves DeVito and Barkley helming a sinking ship.

Both Barkley and Eason are former draft choices who could factor into this bleak situation, but for now, DeVito will keep going. Although 1987 obviously featured more rookies in place as starters, as it featured scabs during a players’ strike, the Associated Press’ Josh Dubow notes DeVito’s start will set a non-strike-year record for rookie quarterbacks to start a game — with 10. The 2019 season involved nine rookie QBs making starts.

The Giants started Taylor against the Jets and Jones against the Raiders. Neither made it out of the first half. Daboll and OC Mike Kafka kept DeVito on a tight leash against the Jets; he completed 2 of 7 passes in that matchup. The staff gave the rookie more opportunities in Las Vegas; DeVito completed 15 of 20 throws against the Raiders, throwing his first touchdown pass. Barkley has not thrown a regular-season pass since 2020, though he has 363 career attempts — most of them coming during his Buffalo stint.

In 2021, the Giants passed on re-signing Colt McCoy in order to replace him with Mike Glennon. Although McCoy sought a second Giants contract and ended up helping the Cardinals end a playoff drought, Glennon became the staff’s pick. Following Jones’ neck injury, the Giants lost their final six games — all of which by double digits — and finished the season with Jake Fromm at the controls. This stretch led to Judge’s firing, which had not been expected around midseason. Daboll helped stabilize matters last season, but the Giants have followed up a divisional-round season with a 2-7 start during a slate in which the worst may be ahead.

The Giants will also be without right tackle Evan Neal for a bit, according to Daboll. The 2022 top-10 pick suffered a left ankle sprain, per ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler. Neal had previously battled a right ankle injury. Tyre Phillips, who spent the 2022 season in New York but wound up on Philadelphia’s practice squad this season, is likely set to replace Neal on the right side, ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan notes. The Giants finally saw Andrew Thomas return against the Raiders, but their run of O-line misfortune will continue in Dallas.