Brian Daboll’s meal ticket to keeping his job as New York Giants head coach is Jaxson Dart. Everybody, Daboll included, knows that.
If Daboll gets an opportunity, like Giants ownership gave him last season, to make a pitch as to why he should be retained as head coach despite yet another losing season, we know how it will go.
Daboll was the guy who pushed for the Giants to draft Dart. There have, in fact, been some reports that Daboll wanted GM Joe Schoen to use the No. 3 overall pick on the quarterback. Daboll will argue that you can’t fully develop a quarterback in one year, and he deserves more time to see what Dart can become. Especially considering the injuries to wide receiver Malik Nabers and running back Cam Skattebo.
Whether those arguments hold any water with ownership, especially if the Giants end up with a third straight double-digit loss season, is anybody’s guess.
One thing, though, should GUARANTEE Daboll gets himself fired. That would be if he gets the prized rookie quarterback badly hurt by continuing to play him at the end of blowout games, especially if he continues to allow designed quarterback runs to be called in those blowout situations.
That is precisely what Daboll and the Giants have done the past two weeks.
Against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 8, Daboll left Dart in the game after the Eagles scored to take a 25-point lead, 38-13, with 5:59 to play. Yes, the Giants. But, who cares? Two designed quarterback runs, one of which Dart scored on, exposed him to unnecessary hits.
Against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 9, Daboll left Dart in for the final 4:13 despite the 49ers leading by an insurmountable 17 points. Again, Dart led a garbage-time scoring drive. Again, who cares? Was it really worth the risk to the future of the franchise?
During that drive, he took two fairly mundane hits in the pocket. On a 10-yard scramble, though, he took a fairly big hit taking on direct contact to get a first down.
Dart isn’t going to change how he plays no matter what the score is. It is the Giants’ job — Daboll’s job — to protect him from himself.
You can’t develop him if he is hurt and can’t play. Or, if he suffers a catastrophic injury that alters the trajectory of his career.
Daboll isn’t the first head coach to leave a star player in a game way too long. Dan Quinn knows Jayden Daniels’ elbow injury is his fault.
If Daboll wants to keep his job he can’t allow something to happen to Dart that might alter the course of his career at the end of a lopsided game the Giants have no hope of winning.
The New York Giants bungled placekicking situation
With Graham Gano now out for the second time this season and fourth time in three years with an injury, it is hard not to agree with former Giants’ placekicker Lawrence Tynes:
“What I would have done, and it’s no disrespect! I love Graham Gano, and he knows that. He’s a friend of mine. I would have cut him,” Tynes said.
Younghoe Koo, who will either be elevated from the practice squad for Sunday or replace Gano on the 53-man roster, will be the fourth placekicker the Giants have used in 10 games. That includes punter Jamie Gillan, who missed an extra point after Gano was injured in pre-game warmups before the Week 3 game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Giants have made a mess of this placekicking situation. Gano can still kick. When he can stay on the field. He has a 55-yard field goal this season. In preseason, he made three field goals of 50+ yards in a game against the Buffalo Bills. You want to trust him because good kickers are not easy to find.
There is, though, too much evidence that you just can’t trust him any longer.
Tynes is right. The Giants had an out during the offseason. After Gano kicked in only 18 of 34 regular-season games in 2023 and 2024, the Giants could have saved $4.415 million against the salary cap by designating Gano a post-June 1 cut. They should have done so, giving themselves plenty of time to find a reliable kicker.
This has been an ongoing soap opera.
In 2023, the Giants waited too long to put an ailing Gano on IR with a knee injury. They lost a Week 8 game to the New York Jets in overtime when Gano missed two field goals, including a 35-yarder with :28 to play that would have forced the Jets to need a touchdown rather than giving them a chance to force overtime with a field goal.
In 2024, Gano suffered a Week 2 groin injury on the opening kickoff. The Giants managed to lose that game to the Washington Commanders despite scoring three touchdowns and surrendering none largely because they couldn’t kick extra points.
Now, Gano will miss a fifth game. It is unknown if he will more than that.
Many Giants fans say the mismanagement of the placekicking situation is enough to fire GM Joe Schoen. I disagree that mishandling of this one position is enough by itself to remove the general manager, but there is no denying Schoen and the Giants have handled this poorly for two full years now.
No, the offensive line is not terrible
Giants fans have PTSD when it comes to the offensive line. I get it. The line has been atrocious for almost all of the last 15 years. The constant question has been “why can’t anybody fix it?” Watching a Giants’ game in recent years and saying “the offensive line stinks” has almost always been right.
Blaming the offensive line has become muscle memory. As the Giants have sunk to 2-7, fans are still doing it.
Only, this year that isn’t correct.
Maybe the line isn’t great. Pro Football and Sports Network ranks the Giants’ offensive line 23rd in Impact Score.
Among offensive tackles who have played at least 332 snaps, Pro Football Focus ranks Andrew Thomas No. 4 and Jermaine Eluemunor No. 38. Purely in pass-blocking, Thomas is No. 4 and Eluemunor No. 11. PFSN ranks Thomas No. 20 of 170 tackles and Eluemunor No. 57.
John Michael Schmitz is not a great player, but he is having his best season. His PFF grade has risen more than 20 points since his rookie season, and his 98.2 pass-blocking efficiency score is a career-best.
Greg Van Roten and Jon Runyan are middle of the pack guards, Van Roten No. 30 and Runyan No. 44 among 66 qualifiers. The guard spot is one the Giants will need to address in the offseason.
The idea, though, that the line is terrible is off base. The Giants have a lot of problems. The offensive line is nowhere near the top of the list.
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