The New York Giants didn’t part ways with Davis Webb because he was a bad quarterback.
Webb was the prohibitive favorite to be Eli Manning’s backup. At times, Webb looked like a quarterback who has only dressed for one regular season game in his career. In the first preseason game against the Cleveland Browns, Webb played awful, uninspired football. He went 9-for-20 for 70 yards with a quarterback rating of 49.4.
Despite his initial preseason showing, Webb showed flashes of brilliance as well. In the second preseason game against the Detroit Lions, he was 14-of-20 for 140 yards and a touchdown. Webb’s performance was even more awe-inspiring considering Saquon Barkley and Odell Beckham Jr. did not play. His quarterback rating was 106.3.
The Giants didn’t waive Webb because he was a bad quarterback. They waived him because he’s not their (head coach Pat Shurmur and general manager Dave Gettleman) guy.
Webb was a 2016 third-round pick. He was drafted by the regime of Ben McAdoo and Jerry Reese. Both McAdoo and Reese are no longer with the team. Shurmur and Gettleman are not invested (in both senses of the word) in Webb long-term. They are, however, all in on Kyle Lauletta.
Lauletta is a 2018 fourth-round selection. Both Shurmur and Gettleman have raved about his poise, decision making, and arm strength all summer long. The word “gamer” is often used when talking about the rookie out of Richmond. Simply put, they like Lauletta as a long-term prospect more than they like Webb.
The Giants also made the head scratching decision to keep journeyman Alex Tanney. Since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2012, Tanney has been on nine teams with only one regular season appearance.
“Here’s the thing with a veteran backup quarterback,” Shurmur said. “They can go in and function with very few reps and I think that’s an attribute that I look for in a guy that could potentially be a backup to a guy like Eli, because they don’t get many reps during the training sessions.”
Shurmur also made it clear he thought both Lauletta and Tanney outplayed Webb in the preseason. Despite this, Webb took nearly all of the second-team reps and also worked with the first-team offense throughout the Giants’ spring workouts and training camp.
Shurmur was very cryptic in response to any questions about who will succeed the 37-year old Manning. Now that Webb (who signed to the New York Jets practice squad Tuesday) has been waived, Shurmur makes the plan a little clearer.
“At this point, we do (have a plan) right now,” Shurmur said Monday. “It’s just not what everyone outside our building had predicted the plan was, and I think that’s where all the questions are stemming from. But 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.”
– Curtis Rawls is a Managing Editor for Full Press Coverage and covers the NFL, the New York Giants, and the NBA. Please like and follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Twitter. Curtis can be followed on Twitter @CuRawls203.
