Is Daboll coaching for his job by starting DeVito?

Considering beleaguered Giants head coach Brian Daboll has zero use for Tommy Devito, why would he start DeVito over Drew Lock after the coach hailed Lock this offseason.

This was a surprise.

No, I am not talking about Giants quarterback Daniel Jones being benched on Monday morning.

Tommy DeVito starting in the Giants’ matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday struck me as interesting. I figured Drew Lock would actually start in that game.

If Daboll had his druthers, he would have started Jones and finished the season with him. But he can’t since the Giants have four more home games left, and the fans would have booed Jones had he played, creating an ugly atmosphere that would have affected the Giants.

Interestingly, DeVito is starting since the head coach had no use for him last year. Once Tyrod Taylor was healthy to start, Daboll couldn’t wait to bench DeVito, and it actually happened on Christmas in the Giants’ game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Then, Daboll hyped Lock this offseason as this capable backup who could keep the Giants afloat. At the time, he figured DeVito’s days were all but over.

What gives that Lock is not starting?

This is just my theory. I feel Daboll is coaching for his job by starting DeVito. He is trying to satisfy the Giants fans and Giants ownership by starting the Cedar Grove native. He has no choice here.

If Daboll truly believes in DeVito, don’t you think the local kid would have been under center when the Giants were sagging earlier this season? Plus, why didn’t the kid get many snaps in the preseason?

To rely on a third-string quarterback to save the head coach’s job is something, especially when the head coach would prefer not to.

DeVito started last season after Jones was out for the season with an ACL tear on his right knee in a game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Vegas. He actually won three games until he started struggling against the Saints. He should have gotten the chance to work out his struggles in a lost season rather than handing the reins to Taylor.

Daboll never really believed in DeVito’s skills. He feels the quarterback lacks the accuracy to be the quarterback. In a game DeVito played against the Jets last year after Taylor left the game after injuring his ribs in the second quarter, the head coach made it a point to tell his quarterback to not to throw, and the quarterback had no choice but to oblige.

There was a reason Daboll and Giants general manager Joe Schoen looked all over the market for a backup quarterback and settled on Lock. They would prefer to give him a shot over DeVito just to validate this $5 million guaranteed signing.

There’s no doubt Giants owner John Mara was involved in this decision. He had to sign off about Jones being benched since he had so much invested in the quarterback that he drafted. If Jones was going to be benched, DeVito would have to serve as a compromise to start and that’s why it came down to that decision. It’s hard to believe Mara would approve Lock to start since the fans wouldn’t have been happy about this decision.

Remember fans were furious about then-Giants general manager Jerry Reese and then-Giants head coach Ben McAdoo starting Geno Smith over Eli Manning. Once Mara approved that, Smith played such a pedestrian game against the Raiders that the owner had enough and fired Reese and McAdoo . which had Manning getting his job back.

Mara did not want any part of deja vu, so he told Daboll to start DeVito.

The beleaguered Giants head coach would obliged since he was in self-preservation mode.

It’s going to be interesting to see how this all works out. Daboll has no choice but to hope DeVito works out. His job depends on it. If the Giants continue to struggle offensively and they are losing games at a hideous rate, fans are going to want more answers and the head coach could be next to go after Jones lost his job.

I know DeVito has the moxie to win games. He proved that last year. He likely would have done well if he had a chance to work out his issues.

He gets another chance. The coach has no choice but to root for him now.

If nothing else, this decision incentivizes Giants fans to watch the Giants this season. There really is no reason to watch if Jones or Lock started. This probably convinced Mara to tell his head coach to play the crowd favorite.

It will be interesting how all it works out.

No one has more invested in this than Daboll.

He’s in a no-win situation. Even if DeVito saves his job, the head coach will be criticized for shortchanging him by not starting him even early.

What a tangled web Daboll has weaved.