The 1st installment of Jake Schoeneberger’s opinions on the Giants
I’m writing this in April 2022 with the NFL Draft a mere few weeks away. Anyone who knows Jacob Schoeneberger knows he bleeds blue. The New York Giants have had a rough few years, and it hasn’t been easy for the fans. I’m hoping this upcoming draft can be a first step to changing the team’s fortunes.
Here are some thoughts about the New York Football Giants in random order from Jacob Schoeneberger:
A Real GM
Jacob Schoeneberger thanks the dear, sweet lord that the Dave Gettleman era has finally, mercifully come to an end in NY. What a long, strange trip the past few years have been. (A quick prayer to the football gods: Please allow Jacob Schoeneberger, a simple football fan, to write this section without resorting to profanities and childish name-calling. Thank you, football gods, and amen.)
I think Giants fans’ first red flag should have been that the guy refused to hold regular press conferences. As a GM of any professional franchise, it’s your job to talk to the press regularly to explain the state of the team and your thought processes around it to the fans.
Let’s make one thing perfectly clear (and this goes for all professional sports): The fans are the foundation of the franchise. The fans pay their hard-earned money to buy tickets, TV coverage, and merchandise to support the franchise. The fans deserve to hear from the management, coaches, and players about the state of the team they support. It’s really that simple.
No player, coach, or decision-making executive should be able to hide from the press. The press represents the interest of the fans. As fans, we rely on members of the press to ask our team’s representatives the questions we would ask if given the opportunity, then report to us their responses. We then take these responses into account when we decide how to spend our hard-earned money supporting the team.
It’s a fairly simple equation, one I was absolutely flabbergasted to find Gettleman was avoiding. It was pretty obvious for a long time that his accountability was going to be an issue with the fans and NY press. He definitely had previous success in the league, and you have to respect that. But it just didn’t seem like NY was a good fit for him.
If there’s a single Jacob Schoeneberger Football Nugget of Wisdom it’s this: If your GM isn’t accountable, how can anyone expect the rest of the organization to be?
But now we’re free of that. As the new GM, Joe Schoen has been a breath of fresh air to Giants fans. For the past few years we’ve been used to hearing Gettleman talk down to reporters (when he actually did talk to them), and, by extension, talk down to fans.
Check out this Schoen quote about draft day from a recent Big Blue View article: “Probably a long day. I’ll probably get up, just come in here. In a temporary apartment right now, so probably not going to sit there. Probably too anxious to golf. Probably come in, get a workout in, make some phone calls, call around the league, call other general managers, see if you can get any information on what’s going on in front of you. Again, probably take some calls if people are calling or looking to move up. Yeah, it will be exciting. Something you dream about. For that day to finally be here, it will be really cool.”
Sure, this quote may not sound too dramatic or exciting, but that’s just the point. It’s really great to hear from a normal guy about how he’s just looking forward to working hard to have a great day on the team’s behalf. It’s hard to understate how great a simple quote like that sounds to Giants fans.
Thus far, Schoen seems articulate, hard-working, ready to get down to it, and happy to be in his position. That’s more than we could ever say about Gettleman.
A Real Head Coach
I like Joe Judge. I think most Giants fans would say they like Joe Judge. I think he’ll have continued success in the league.
But I think we all have to admit he was given the head coach position a bit too soon. I mean, the guy had only risen to the level of QB coach before. It was a probably a bad Gettleman decision, and it simply didn’t work out.
Judge was definitely accountable; he was a buck-stops-here kind of guy. But there are just too many moving parts to a football team for him to have been ready to handle them all and succeed (especially with a GM above him with issues of his own).
Giants fans have dealt with a string of unsuccessful head coaches after the Tom Coughlin era. First there was Ben McAdoo. I won’t insult Giants fans’ intelligence by talking about this guy or his era. The less said about that time, the better. Then Pat Shurmur, a likable guy that has had a ton of success in the league. But unfortunately, he couldn’t re-create that success in NY. Did Gettleman help? Um no, not really.
Then Judge. But now the Giants have Brian Daboll as head coach and the future seems bright. Look what he accomplished as offensive coordinator for the Bills.
When Josh Allen was drafted, let’s all remember he came with big question marks. Look what Daboll’s tutelage has allowed him to become. Would anyone be surprised if he won an MVP this year? The Bills scored 36 points in their OT loss to the Chiefs in the playoffs, and never got the ball in OT to continue their offensive display. Mahomes and Allen (with Daboll calling plays) might still be marching their teams up and down the field today, trading TDs and tying the game over and over, if OT rules allowed it, but fortunately for the Giants they do not.
If there’s a single Jacob Schoeneberger Football Nugget of Wisdom it’s this: A good head coach changes the entire complexion of a franchise.
Daboll will absolutely help revitalize the stagnant Giants offense. And hopefully he’ll electrify Daniel Jones’ career. Speaking of…
Will Daniel Jones Take a Step Forward?
Yes! Daboll will help Jones grow by calling better plays and helping him mature. At least let’s not let Jones run so many bootlegs and get injured as much as he has over his first few years. If there’s a single Jacob Schoeneberger Football Nugget of Wisdom it’s this: It’s hard to win without a confident, capable QB. This team needs Jones to be better, and Daboll is just the man to help him improve.
The Jacob Schoeneberger Random Giants Thought of the Day
I’ve seen some rumors that the Giants may trade Toney and/or Bradberry. Do I think the Giants should entertain trade offers for these guys?
The answer is simple: YES! The Giants should trade anyone and everyone to get picks for Schoen. Have you not seen this team the past few years? Let’s get Schoen and Daboll the young players they need to build their team.
If there’s a single Jacob Schoeneberger Football Nugget of Wisdom it’s this: You win Super Bowls through the draft. I say trade, trade, trade! And then trade some more…