It’s been a disastrous season for the New York Giants.
They’re 2-7 and now have to play on the road against a strong Dallas Cowboys team. Sure, this is a rivalry game, but the Giants don’t seem to have any fangs. Their “franchise quarterback” Daniel Jones, tore his right ACL last weekend and has been injured for much of this season. They’ve got a solid veteran backup on the roster in Tyrod Taylor, but he hit the injured reserve a few weeks ago with rib issues.
That left head coach Brian Daboll looking for a new starter heading into this weekend against Dallas and had a decision to make between journeyman backup Matt Barkley, who was a star at USC in…checks notes…in 2012. Or undrafted rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito.
DeVito will get the start against Dallas, but who exactly is this international man of mystery?
Getting to know Tommy DeVito: New starting QB for the New York Giants
Here are some straight facts about DeVito.
He’s 6-foot-2, 210 pounds and hails from Cedar Grove, New Jersey. He played football at Don Bosco Preparatory High School, which is where Jabrill Peppers attended. Peppers was with the Giants from 2019-21.
DeVito was a unanimous four-star recruit, ranked as the No. 13 pro-style quarterback in the 2017 class.
He committed to Syracuse out of high school and played football with the Orange for four seasons, racking up 3,866 passing yards and 28 touchdowns (12 interceptions) in 26 games played. DeVito transferred to Illinois for the 2022 season, when he threw for 2,650 yards and 15 touchdowns with four interceptions and six rushing touchdowns in 13 starts.
He led the Big Ten in completion percentage (69.6 percent) but ultimately wasn’t selected in the 2023 NFL Draft.
The Giants signed DeVito as a UDFA and he was promptly cut, re-signed and sent to the practice squad.
DeVito does have some NFL experience, but it’s not great
When Taylor went down against the New York Jets earlier this season, DeVito was thrust into action. He completed just 2-of-7 passes for negative one yards. He was also sacked twice.
Not great.
When Jones went down against the Las Vegas Raiders last weekend, DeVito was once again thrust into action. This time, he had better results, completing 15-of-20 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown.
That’s the good.
The bad?
He also was sacked six times and threw two interceptions. His QBR at the end of the game was 3.6.
Yes, you read that right.
Can DeVito lead the Giants to a win?
Probably not, but at the very least, he’ll be making some history this weekend against the Cowboys.
DeVito will be the first undrafted rookie in the common draft era to start for the New York Giants in a non-strike game.
