More On: dave gettleman
Giants’ Dave Gettleman: ‘An important year’ for Daniel Jones
Dave Gettleman’s bold NFL Draft moves reveal his Giants plan
Giants have moved closer to being an NFC East favorite
Elerson Smith is Giants’ next hope to break their NFL Draft pass-rusher jinx
Azeez Ojulari is Dave Gettleman’s surprise NFL Draft trade prize
He has been lambasted, harpooned and nearly fired along with Pat Shurmur. He was no longer Dave Gettleman, he was Embattled Dave Gettleman, a 69-year-old cancer survivor in the midst of a pandemic facing a make-or-break NFL draft that would define his future and the franchise’s as well. Go ahead and call him The Comeback …
He has been lambasted, harpooned and nearly fired along with Pat Shurmur.
He was no longer Dave Gettleman, he was Embattled Dave Gettleman, a 69-year-old cancer survivor in the midst of a pandemic facing a make-or-break NFL draft that would define his future and the franchise’s as well.
Go ahead and call him The Comeback Kid.
Now, everyone always swears they had a terrific draft and got better, married value and need perfectly, couldn’t believe so-and-so was still on the board, so there’s that. And Gettleman did not find a “blue goose” edge rusher he liked enough, or a center, or a big receiver, and did not reach for need. And Bill Belichick didn’t draft a quarterback and the Packers didn’t draft a wide receiver. You stay true to your draft noses or live to regret it.
But he addressed with a vengeance the sinkhole otherwise known as the Giants offensive line, finally made good on the promise he made to fix it when he was hired.
And he landed the best safety in the draft in Xavier McKinney in the second round.
Remember when Gettleman arrived vowing to kick ass?
He kicked ass.
He has given Daniel Jones the chance to flourish that Eli Manning wish he had toward the end of his Hall of Fame career. He has given Saquon Barkley more of a chance to honor his Gold Jacket Guy talent. He has given his offense a better chance to score points and keep his defense off the field.
Some so-called experts and evaluators had No. 1 pick left tackle Andrew Thomas as the fourth-rated tackle, others had him as the best, and all that matters is he will have a chance to be manning the position for 10 years.
Matt Peart, the right tackle of the future and third-round pick, is another long-armed physical specimen who should start sooner rather than later.
Pro Football Focus’ grade for Gettleman’s draft: A
In free agency and the draft, Gettleman has also upgraded the secondary, special teams and overall team speed.
He stood in there good and tough when the analytics crowd mocked him as a dinosaur, when he traded Odell Beckham Jr. nine months after he told everyone that he didn’t sign him to trade him, when he let Landon Collins walk, when he was roasted for using the sixth pick last year on Jones, and again when he surrendered a third-round draft choice to the Jets for Leonard Williams. The OBJ trade might yet haunt him, but ownership is confident that he has found its next franchise quarterback.
“We believe he is the right person to lead us going forward,” John Mara said after much deliberation with co-owner Steve Tisch.
It can be an awkward situation when you hire a rookie head coach and give him a five-year contract and a promise to be more patient after Ben McAdoo and Pat Shurmur lasted two years back-to-back, and keeping your 69-year-old GM and putting him on notice when you do. But it appears Gettleman and Judge work well together — and socially distanced — with the GM’s experience serving as an invaluable resource for the rookie head coach.
“Dave’s been awesome,” Judge said.
And they sound like kindred spirits when it comes to building the right culture: Judge is bringing The Patriots Way, The Belichick Way, to the Giants, and Gettleman is totally on board.
“I don’t want 53 independent contractors,” Judge said, “I want one team.”
He has instructed the rookies to show him, not tell him.
“One thing that drives me nuts is when sometimes guys get drafted, emotion gets caught up, they stand on the stage a lot of times and what do they say? They start talking about how they’re gonna take over the league,” Judge said. “OK, look — this is a guy who hasn’t been in the league for five seconds. What do they know about taking over the league? … They don’t know how to be a pro yet. They don’t. As much as they may think they do, they don’t.”
Gettleman will be passing the baton to Judge now with seven current drafted starters, four or five starters from free agency and three via trade. And a host of young players who will be given every opportunity to develop under a better coaching staff and challenge for starting jobs or otherwise provide quality depth.
“The last two years? Not good enough,” Gettleman admitted when 2019 ended.
His record is 9-23. The Giants still have a hill to climb. Still need to learn how to win. When the season ended, there was no way that Gettleman could convince his many critics that the Giants were on the right path. He should be able to now.
