The last time the Giants went this far down the quarterback depth chart was the final 78 days of President George H.W. Bush’s administration.
On Dec. 12, 1992, the opponent for third-stringer-turned-starter Kent Graham in a 19-0 loss was the Phoenix Cardinals, who haven’t gone by that name in the last 10,602 days. Joe Judge was a 10-year-old growing up in Eagles territory. And Jake Fromm was nearly six years away from being born.
But Judge is strongly considering starting Fromm on Sunday against the Eagles after he replaced backup Mike Glennon late in what was Glennon’s third straight ineffective performance since taking over for the injured Daniel Jones. Delaying naming a starter works to double the Eagles’ preparation and forces Fromm to earn the job during additional starters-against-starters competition practice periods.
“There’s a drastic difference between starting an NFL game and just coming in at the end,” Judge said. “There’s a lot of things you’re going to see structurally, defensively, the situations in the game that pop up. We’re going to watch them go through, watch them run the offense, prepare for it and we’ll make our decision at the end of the week.”
Fromm carried himself Wednesday with a starter’s presence, which is no surprise considering he made 42 college starts — including one in a national championship game — for Georgia.
“Whatever the situation is, I’m going to be me,” Fromm said. “And just really try to rally the guys the best I can and say, ‘Hey, let’s go execute, try to win a football game and score points.’ ”
Wouldn’t that be a change? The Giants rank No. 30 in the league averaging 17 points per game — including just 10.8 in the four games since play-caller Freddie Kitchens replaced coordinator Jason Garrett, who was fired because of the offense’s failure to score touchdowns and inability to feed top playmakers. Glennon has led one touchdown drive in 30 possessions outside of fourth-quarter garbage time.
“I need to execute better all around the board and play at a higher level,” Glennon said. “I’m just going to prepare to be ready to go. We’re going to support each other and be there for one another.”
In his one series against the Cowboys — the first activity of his career — Fromm connected with receivers Kenny Golladay, Sterling Shepard (now out for the season) and Darius Slayton a total of five times for 75 yards against soft zone coverage dictated by the scoreboard. The trio had one catch for 9 yards on five targets through three quarters.
“He really made the most of an opportunity,” Golladay said. “Things weren’t going well, so I think he just went in there fearless really, and kind of, ‘Let me sling it around a little bit.’ He did a hell of a job. He definitely controlled the huddle well.”
Golladay said he took some reps with Fromm during Wednesday’s practice but declined to say if he would prefer one quarterback or the other.
“He’s got a big catch radius,” Fromm said of the 6-foot-4 Golladay, the $72 million free-agent prize still searching for his first touchdown catch of the season. “Throw it up, let him make plays. He did a great job making plays in the game. We’ll see how that carries over.”
Fromm’s NFL career started in controversy when it was leaked that he wrote only “elite white people” should be able to buy guns in a 2019 text message. He apologized to his Bills teammates at the time, and he further explained Wednesday there has been no backlash in the Giants locker room, where he is surrounded by six former Georgia teammates.
“Going into a new situation and a new [Bills] locker room, there weren’t a whole lot of guys that really knew me,” Fromm said. “Really it was really selling myself and saying, ‘Hey guys, this is me, this is my heart, this is who I really am.’ It’s a really long, hard road to earn people’s trust. I’m just super thankful for that family there in Buffalo that really took me in and helped me.”
Fromm joined the Giants on Dec. 1 and digested about 60 percent of the full playbook before last week, according to the FOX broadcast.
“It’s been crazy,” Fromm said. “There’s no other way to really put it. I’m super thankful to be here. I’m just ready to go, so excited.”