Time’s Ticking for GM Gettleman

This will be Dave Gettleman’s third season in the big chair for the Giants and it could be the last depending on how Big Blue fares in 2020. NFL teams have a win at all cost mentality and oftentimes executives prefer quick band-aid remedies as opposed to long term solutions. And if we consider what the lines being dealt on the Giants, then things don’t look promising for another season after this one for the 69-year-old NFL executive.

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Entering this year, Gettleman has compiled 5-11 and 4-12 records respectively over the last two seasons as general manager of the Giants and owner John Mara isn’t pleased with the results. Nine combined wins over the last two seasons is not doing it, despite drafting a home run in Saquon Barkley as the second overall pick in the 2018 draft.

It was a bit of a no-brainer if we are being completely honest, but to be fair, it was also a quarterback rich draft that could easily have seduced others in Gettleman’s position to spurn Barkley and choose highly touted passers like Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, or Josh Rosen after the Browns tagged Baker Mayfield with the No. 1 overall pick.

Joe Judge was hired out of New England to replace Pat Shurmur this season and now it’s time for the Giants to begin to prosper under Gettleman’s helmsmanship. And while Mara did bring him back, he did issue a rather stern warning, “He does know the batting average has got to increase going forward. We need to win more games and Dave knows that.’’

Giants have and will be more relevant than the Bengals could ever dream of ?

— Joe Judge SZN (@MiserableFan_) June 29, 2020

Protect the Franchise

Daniel Jones has a lot to prove, and the Giants brass who drafted him as the controversial sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft would like nothing more than for him to do so. The tall shadow and looming specter of Eli Manning will be absent this year after the four-time Pro Bowler and two-time Super Bowl quarterback decided to hang up the cleats and call it a career.

Much is riding on Jones as the Giants attempt to crawl out from under a basement in Brooklyn and into, at the very least, a sensible apartment somewhere in the neighborhood of average to decent with an eye towards a penthouse in Midtown.

But New York needs to protect Jones if he is to continue to not only improve but impress those who derided him after the Giants rolled the dice at No. 6. Many believed it was an impetuous decision at a spot that could have been used on a more proven talent. Getting Jones with either New York’s 17^th pick, or even their 30^th, would have been much more in keeping with where he was projected to go. In fact, many pundits believed the Duke product was more of a second-round talent but there were enough who believed his floor would be the middle of the first -round which caused New York to err on the side of caution and tap him early.

Needless to say, Jones’ first season was, for all intents and purposes, a success but it was not without its warts. There were too many errant throws and a dozen interceptions that could easily have been cut in half had he been a bit more seasoned. However, he is slowly making converts out of his detractors and if he is to trend upwards then he will need more time in the pocket. To that end, the Giants used their No. 4 overall pick in the 2020 draft to select a big body out of Georgia named Andrew Thomas.

It’s clear that when GM Dave Gettleman has a man in mind for a job, he doesn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. He proved that last year when he drafted Jones at No. 6 and again this season when he called Thomas’ name at No. 4, even though it was a draft knee-deep in offensive line talent in which as many as five O-linemen were considered among the best and virtually interchangeable at this point in their careers.

Yet, instead of searching for value, Gettleman wanted what he wanted and now Andrew Thomas will battle aging incumbent Nate Solder for the blindside tackle spot with the loser presumably switching over to right tackle.

Moreover, the addition of free-agent offensive tackle Cam Fleming and 6’7” U Conn product, Matt Peart, chosen in the third round, makes it fair to assume that Jones will be feeling a lot less heat in the kitchen which will lead to smarter choices, delivering better results this season. At least that what Dave Gettleman and Giants fans everywhere are hoping.

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