QB call Shur’ packs a punch
THE OBVIOUS message Pat Shurmur issued on Monday was Davis Webb wasn’t good enough to be the Giants’ future franchise quarterback.
Instead, the Giants kept rookie Kyle Lauletta and journeyman Alex Tanney as Eli Manning’s backup.
“I feel like they are better choices for us now,” Shurmur said at the Giants training facility in East Rutherford.
So much for Davis Webb.
The louder message was that Shurmur and general manager Dave Gettleman will operate the Giants their way and everyone else needs to be on notice to expect the unexpected.
The players on a carefully crafted 53- man roster went through a light practice Monday in preparation for Sunday’s opener against the Jaguars at MetLife Stadium. But you get the feeling all the names are written in pencil and subject to change throughout the season if expectations aren’t met. That’s a good thing.
Webb, the third-round selection from Jerry Reese’s last draft and potential heir to Manning, was released Sunday. He is the biggest name in the latest wave of change that continued with the signing of six free agents Sunday.
“We’re going to continue to try to improve all the position groups ,” Shurmur vowed .“If there’s a player that we have evaluated and feel good about taking a look at, we’ll do that.”
It was clear Shurmur didn’t agonize over cutting Webb. He talked up Tanney’ s veteran presence even though he has played in just one game in seven NFL seasons, and insisted Lauletta outperformed Webb in training camp, particularly during practices against the Lions in Detroit.
The Giants coach probably revealed what Webb lacked when he talked about what he liked in Lauletta.
“I like the fact that he’ll decide what he’s looking at, see it and pull the trigger,” Shurmur said of Lauletta, Gettleman’s fourth-round pick from Richmond. “He’s very decisive in what he does. He’s a gamer of sorts and we’re looking forward to working with that.”
Shurmur called the 6-foot-5 Webb an “outstanding worker” and wished him well. He insisted the Giants still have a long-term plan for replacing the 37-year-old Manning — though it’s unclear exactly what that is.
“We made a decision that we’re going to go with Alex and we’re going to go with Kyle as Eli’s backups, so we move forward,” Shurmur said.
This could be t he def i ni ng move of the Gettleman-Shurmur ara. Yes, already. The perfect scenario is the Giants make the playoffs, get hot and win the Super Bowl. (Heard that before?) Or at the very least Manning has a solid two or three seasons and the Giants contend for championships. No one will mention Davis Webb again.
Disaster and second-guessing comes if Manning is hurt or plays terribly and Lauletta isn’t ready and Tanney is overmatched. If Webb finds a home with another team and develops into a starting quarterback, that could also haunt the Giants. In addition, this means drafting a potential franchise quarterback remains a priority in the 2019 draft.
The easy move would have been to keep Webb and let him sink or swim on his own merit and blame Reese if it went bad. But evidently, Gettleman and Shurmur saw enough from Manning during training camp — and not enough from Webb — to make a change.
“We watched him go through what we do in training camp and what we do in practice and we made a decision to move on and go with the other guys,” Shurmur said of Webb.
There is an added benef it to releasing Webb. Shurmur has got his players’ attention. There is no time to exhale. Draft status means nothing, especially if part of the previous regime like Webb was.
“At some point, regardless of where you’re drafted, once you’re settled in as a player on the team, that kind of goes away,” Shurmur said. “We’re all out here trying to earn a spot every day.”
That’s a good thing.