The New York Giants continue to take a cautious, long-term outlook when it comes to the development of Davis Webb. Reading between the lines of interim head coach Steve Spagnuolo, it is clear that the Giants won’t rush their rookie quarterback onto the field if they feel he isn’t ready.
But he seems to be getting closer and closer.
The backup quarterback is the most popular man in town on most losing football teams. In the case of the 2-12 Giants, Webb fits that bill as fans and the media clamor for him to get some snaps. Drafted this past April as a possible successor to veteran quarterback Eli Manning, Webb has yet to play this season.
But news on Thursday that he got a few reps with the first-team perhaps shows that the Giants might roll out Webb just a little bit as this season (thankfully) comes to a close. The final two games might be an ideal spot for Webb to get a brief run and some experience.
“We had eight competitive snaps. Four in the red zone. Four were all third down, which is a key down for the both those situational football are really important for us to win games and he had six of them,” Spagnuolo said. “After watching the film I thought he did a pretty good job yesterday. There were a couple things in there that need to be ironed out. I’d have to see the film on it today.”
Noting that “The last thing you want to do is put somebody in a game when they haven’t had enough work,” Spagnuolo clearly views Webb’s development as a marathon, not a sprint.
But the rookie does have some solid film from in college at Texas Tech then last year at Cal and was one of the better quarterback prospects in last year’s NFL draft. He’s raw and needs refining but there is something there to work with.
“Davis did a lot of good things. He has things he needs to improve upon. The things that have stood out is all the preparation – things that he’s done behind the scenes in the meeting room and you can tell that he’s someone that was able to take that information and he didn’t freeze up,” offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan said on Thursday. “Again, it’s a different animal in a sense because we’re going against the Giant defense and on the one hand gives great competition. They’re playing fast, but the scheme is different obviously than what we’re going to see from Arizona. But, in terms of just the operation and having a sense of what was part of it – he did a good job.”
