Despite drama, Giants could be an enticing team
Next coach will have veteran, young talent around for quick turnaround
With his franchise “spiraling out of control,” New York Giants co-owner John Mara went into damage control mode Monday. He broke from his longheld beliefs of loyalty and patience and fired coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese with four games left in the season.
Perhaps it doesn’t come as a surprise that an NFL owner would clean house the day after falling to 2-10 on the season. But this is Mara, who has long eschewed knee-jerk reactions and in-season firings. Just a couple of weeks ago, Mara issued a letter pledging support for his coach through the season.
But after Sunday’s loss, which concluded a tumultuous week after the Eli Manning benching, Mara and co-owner Steve Tisch concluded “wholesale changes” were needed and “it was pointless to wait any longer to make these changes.”
Now starts the quest for restoration. Believe it or not, a quick turnaround is possible. As a result, the Giants will probably be the prime landing spot for any coaching candidate this offseason. Anywhere from four to six teams are likely to find themselves in the market for head coaches, but few can offer what Mara does.
The incoming general manager and coach will inherit the support of an owner whose values have ensured great stability for years. Mara’s eschewing of quick-fix schemes will be help attract the top long-term candidates.
Despite their record, the Giants’ cupboards are not bare. This isn’t Cleveland, which will require a couple of sticks of dynamite before proper reconstruction can take place.
The Giants invested extensively on defense in 2016. But those talented players have clashed with the coaches this year.
The next coach must feature a strong
personality and great leadership skills. He needs to identify with players while also commanding their respect, and he has to prove to them that his decisions — even if difficult — are being made in the best interest of the team.
A disciplinarian also is needed to rein in offensive players, including Odell Beckham Jr. One incident that some said rubbed ownership wrong involved the coach’s lack of a response when Beckham pretended to be a urinating dog following a touchdown this season, a move for which Mara later publicly admonished his star. Reese was on record having said that Beckham needs to “grow up.”
“Everybody knows that he is a gifted player,” Reese said last January, “but there are some things that he has done that he needs to look at himself in the mirror and be honest with himself about, and I think he will do that. We will help him with that, but he has to help himself, and we believe he will do that. He is a smart guy, but sometimes he doesn’t do smart things.”
Deciding Beckham’s long-term future also is a priority. He enters the last year of his deal and wants to be the highest-paid player in the NFL. Regardless of how realistic that is, Beckham already held out during organized team activities last spring. The new coach and GM must find a way to resolve this matter with as little drama as possible.
The new bosses also will be tasked with identifying a plan at quarterback. McAdoo and Reese were ready to move on without Manning next season, but that would be a mistake.
Yes, he’ll draw a $5 million roster bonus on the fifth day of the 2018 league year, and he’ll count for $22 million against the cap next season. But the 36year-old Manning can get the job done for at least one more go-round. Compared with the top quarterback contracts in the last several years and the figures that the market is expected to feature this offseason ($28 million to $30 million annually), Manning’s payout is a bargain.
The proper move would be to reinsert Manning as starter right now, especially with the divisional rival Cowboys coming to town. By sticking with Manning one more season, the Giants ensure themselves options.
They’ll still likely wind up with a topfive pick in the upcoming draft. They can use that on a prized young quarterback and groom him properly behind Manning for a season. Alternatively, they could parlay that selection into more picks, which would help them further rebuild their offense — particularly a subpar line and running back group. New York could then take a quarterback later in the draft or further develop third-round rookie Davis Webb.
The Giants reached their darkest days in this past week, and because of that, Mara pulled the trigger on the firings of McAdoo and Reese.
But the horizon offers promise.
Hope for San Francisco
It was one win, and it came without his team having scored a touchdown. But with his performance Sunday, Jim- my Garoppolo gave the San Francisco 49ers something they’ve lacked for a long time: legitimate hope at the quarterback position.
While making his first start since the Patriots traded him to San Francisco in October, Garoppolo completed 26 of 37 passes for 293 yards. His one interception came on a play in which Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller wrestled the ball away from wide receiver Louis Murphy.
The passing yards and 70.3% completion clip are nice. But it was the poise and effectiveness that Garoppolo displayed in crunchtime that were most impressive. Taking the ball at his own 8yard line with his team down two points and 51⁄ minutes remaining, Garoppolo rose to the occasion.
He was nearly perfect, completing five of six passes while directing a 14play, 86-yard drive that set Robbie Gould up for the game-winning 24-yard field goal with four seconds left.
San Francisco got its second win of the season, and Garoppolo gained a host of believers from within his locker room.
“Just look at him. Look at him,” wide receiver Marquise Goodwin told reporters after the game. “He’s got it all together. He came in a short time (ago) and is helping us flip this thing around. Some people are just winners, and he’s a winner.”
Garoppolo still doesn’t have a full grasp of San Francisco’s playbook, so coach Kyle Shanahan scarpped some of the what he usually would have used. But Garoppolo has enough of an understanding of the concepts of the offense, and opposing defenses, to be effective.
Much of being an effective quarterback depends on confidence, and Garoppolo has that despite still being new to his surroundings. Having learned from Tom Brady, he knows what it takes to lead and the preparation required to succeed. The 49ers have seen this behind the scenes, and on Sunday they saw it translate onto the field. It was a good first step.
Now, the challenge for Garoppolo is to continue to master the playbook and start turning some of those trips into the red zone into touchdowns.