New York Giants: Protecting the investment in Kyle Lauletta

Perhaps New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur is thinking about the future by keeping rookie quarterback Kyle Lauletta sidelined as long as possible.

History is repeating itself for the New York Giants this holiday season. Barring multiple in-division collapses and miraculous occurrences, the Giants are out of playoff contention before December begins. Veteran quarterback Eli Manning isn’t the only problem with his team’s offense, but he also looks more like an older version of himself than the old Eli.

A coach, Pat Shurmur in this instance, who never drafted the two-time Super Bowl MVP understandably must consider life without Manning in the quarterback room and on the field.

It was roughly a year ago when then-coach Ben McAdoo sat the greatest signal-caller in franchise history and started former New York Jets flop, Geno Smith, a decision that absolutely played a role in the Giants showing McAdoo the door before the conclusion of the campaign. Sitting Eli was one thing for those who had followed his career since 2004. Playing Smith over rookie Davis Webb was unforgivable in their eyes.

McAdoo did all he could to tell anyone who would listen that Webb, a third-round pick, wasn’t ready to face the live bullets of meaningful NFL action. We now know the coach was right. No team added Webb to its active roster after the Giants released him before the start of the current campaign. Sam Darnold suffering an injury is the main reason Webb made it on the Jets depth chart this fall.

More from NFL Spin Zone

• Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
• Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
• Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
• Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
• Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens

Shurmur may be walking in McAdoo’s shoes over the final month of what quickly became a lost season for Big Blue. First-year quarterback Kyle Lauletta, a fourth-round selection, is working behind the scenes and behind both Manning and 31-year old journeyman Alex Tanney on a weekly basis.

The coach has hinted Tanney could start before Christmas and before Lauletta is given the keys to the offense. Fans, of course, are failing to understand why the rookie isn’t playing when the results of games matter little outside of supposed “Giants pride.”

Like in life, not all NFL situations are black and white. The notion a losing team with an aging quarterback who isn’t the long-term solution needs to know what a rookie does or doesn’t have during the regular season doesn’t always apply. McAdoo and his staff would have learned nothing, literally nothing, by playing Webb in December 2017. Shurmur very well may be thinking about his own future by keeping Lauletta a spectator.

Go back to August and the preseason. Find the drive or throw or decision made by Lauletta where you sat back in your chair, smiled and thought he could be the guy to lead an NFL offense. Players develop differently and at different paces. The product out of Richmond recently turned only 23 years old. With that said, QBs like Lauletta are usually the guy behind the guy rather than the guy. That’s just how it goes.

Shurmur cannot just think about who will start under center for the Giants before January and next summer. Football players, let alone coaches, know who is the real deal and who shouldn’t be in the lineup. Starting Lauletta when he is not emotionally, psychologically, mentally or physically prepared for the responsibility could not only set him back. It could cause those around him to silently quit before Week 17.

That last one is a real concern for Shurmur. Players on losing football teams take mental vacations in late December every season. They count down practices, film sessions and games until they are able and allowed to get out of town.

Playing Lauletta behind an offensive line that doesn’t trust him or alongside Odell Beckham Jr. when OBJ doesn’t believe his quarterback can hit him with a pass achieves nothing other than causing panic among a fan base that is going to demand the team draft and/or sign a free agent, such as Teddy Bridgewater, no matter what happens as Santa is double-checking lists.

This is largely speculation, but it’s also based on logic and on what occurred within the organization last season. Shurmur and his coaches see Lauletta every day. They know what he can do, as of Dec. 1, without watching him attempt to read blitz packages or realize when a defensive back is trying to trick him into making an errant pass. Shurmur is protecting an asset at the moment, even if doing so means Manning suffering another loss on his record, this time to the Chicago Bears.