To borrow from the Pixar classic film “Ratatouille,’’ not everyone can be a great quarterback, but a great quarterback can come from anywhere.
Way back when, one of them came from Morehead State, in the case of Phil Simms.
A little more recently, one arrived from the most famous quarterback family of them all, in the case of Eli Manning.
Both first-round draft picks went on to lead the Giants to Super Bowl triumphs.
Entering through the front door, as Simms and Manning did, is the standard operating procedure for landing a franchise quarterback.
But sometimes the side and back doors are open for a reason, too.
Can a great quarterback come from Cedar Grove, N.J., one who lives with his parents and feasts on his mom’s chicken cutlets?
Nobody is going there with Tommy DeVito.
Not even the Giants — just yet, anyway — after he took them down the field Monday night with a perfect two-minute-drill comeback for a stirring 24-22 victory over the Packers.
But the very idea of entertaining the “Is DeVito for real?’’ discussion is quite an unforeseen development.
In his NFL debut, DeVito, fresh off the practice squad, took over for the injured Tyrod Taylor against the Jets and was not trusted to throw the ball in the rain in the second half, a conservative strategy that almost worked but fell short in an overtime loss. The next week, DeVito came off the bench for the injured Daniel Jones and looked overmatched in a 30-6 loss in Las Vegas. DeVito made his first NFL start a week later, and the Giants were down 28-0 at halftime to the Cowboys in Dallas before he showed signs he could function as an NFL quarterback.
What happened next could not have been more unexpected.
During the Giants’ current three-game winning streak, DeVito has thrown five touchdown passes and no interceptions. His passer ratings: 137.7 against the Commanders, 103.9 against the Patriots and 113.9 against the Packers.
In his first “Monday Night Football’’ experience, he was 10-of-11 for 110 yards in the second half for a passer rating of 138.6, and more importantly, he was 4-for-4 for 53 yards on the game-winning field-goal drive.
He was not asked to manage the game for the Giants. He was needed to win it, and he did.
Can this undrafted 25-year old rookie, who spent four years at Syracuse and his final season at Illinois, rise above his modest pedigree and forge an NFL career?
And, if so, will it be as a hang-onto-the-roster backup or as something more?
Coach Brian Daboll has gone from saying the bare minimum about DeVito to showing genuine appreciation for DeVito’s work ethic, confidence, swagger, personality, smarts and ability to intermingle with so many teammates in so many different ways.
(In contrast, Jones, who is rehabbing from reconstructive knee surgery, is well-respected but spoken about in different tones and terms, largely detailing his calmness and level-headedness.)
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“He knows he’s got stuff to work on, but I think he sees the game pretty well,’’ Daboll said of DeVito. “He sees coverages … for a young player, particularly at that position, [that] isn’t always the case, but when he comes off to the sideline and you’re asking him questions about why he did what he did, what he saw, you watch the tape the following day and it’s like, ‘Yup, that’s exactly what happened.’’’
DeVito was on no one’s radar, as far as ranking him as a legitimate NFL prospect. There were 14 quarterbacks selected in the 2023 NFL Draft, and DeVito was not one of them.
“Sometimes that happens,’’ Daboll said.
It is interesting to figure out what Daboll truly means here.
Sometimes it happens that a really good quarterback slips through the cracks and every team decides he’s not worthy? Teams make mistakes on quarterbacks all the time.
Did all 32 teams whiff on DeVito? And have the Giants uncovered something here?
That these questions can legitimately be asked means DeVito already has accomplished something.
Asked and answered
Here are two questions that have come up recently that we will attempt to answer as accurately as possible:
Why has Wan’Dale Robinson looked so much better in recent weeks?
He is getting healthier. Robinson tore his ACL on Nov. 21, 2022, as he was putting together a breakout game against the Lions. It was an injury that was especially difficult for him to overcome, considering how much of his game and effectiveness is based on his speed, agility, change-of-direction and burst. Players at different positions can come back from this particular knee injury more quickly.
A year later, Robinson was ahead of schedule in his recovery, but it has taken the 5-foot-8 wide receiver a bit longer to return to his top form. The Giants want to use him in the slot, on jet sweeps, at times as a running back, and all those roles require him to be at full strength.
On Monday, Robinson showed he is all the way back with the exquisite route he ran to shake free on a 32-yard reception in the closing minute to set up the game-winning field goal to beat the Packers.
Who was that guy wearing No. 51 for the Giants making plays on defense on Monday night?
We have an Azeez Ojulari sighting.
The outside linebacker, again beset by injuries, played in just six of the first 12 games this season and was barely visible most of the time. He had a total of four tackles, no sacks and one quarterback hit in those six games, during which there were long stretches when it was not easy to determine whether he was on the field or off it.
Against the Packers, Ojulari matched a season high for usage with 49 snaps as he put together his first impact game of the season: six tackles, one-half sack, one tackle for loss and three quarterback hits.
Ojulari, a 2021 second-round pick from Georgia, has one year remaining on his contract after this season. Gone are the expectations that he can become a dangerous pass rusher — he did have 13.5 sacks in his first 24 NFL games — and he might not be asked back for 2024. He is only 23 years old, though, so you never know.
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