Daniel Jones benched: Why Tommy DeVito, not Drew Lock, will be Giants starting QB

The New York Giants made a surprising decision about their future on Monday.

It wasn't their decision to bench starting quarterback Daniel Jones. The team chose to roll with Tommy DeVito as his replacement instead of Drew Lock.

Lock served as the Giants' backup in their first ten games of the season after signing a one-year, $5 million contract with the team during the 2024 NFL offseason. DeVito was inactive for each contest as the team's emergency, third-string quarterback, so it was presumed that Lock would get the first crack to replace Jones.

Instead, DeVito was elevated to the starting role ahead of Week 12 while Lock will serve as the team's backup quarterback. Here's what to know about New York's decision and why the second-year undrafted free agent out of Illinois leapfrogged Lock on the Giants' depth chart.

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Why are the Giants starting Tommy DeVito?

Giants coach Brian Daboll explained the decision to start DeVito over Lock during a news conference on Monday.

"After evaluating a bunch of things and looking at a lot of tape, and being around Tommy last year where he created a little bit of a spark for us, that's the reason why we're going with Tommy," Daboll told reporters.

Indeed, DeVito provided the Giants a spark in his six starts as an undrafted rookie in 2023. He posted a 3-3 record and completed 64% of his passes for 1,104 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions. Daboll evidently feels confident that the Illinois product can repeat that feat with better weapons, like Malik Nabers, at his disposal.

Daboll's reference to the tape playing a role in his decision also gave DeVito an advantage over Lock. The Giants' backup quarterback was injured for most of the preseason and didn't get many reps because of that.

In his limited preseason action, Lock completed 4 of 10 passes for 17 yards and an interception; he then completed just 3 of 8 passes for 6 yards with 2 fumbles in mop-up work during the Giants' 28-3 Week 7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

That may not be a huge sample size for Lock, but his shaky performance in those spots was enough to convince Daboll to turn to DeVito as Jones' replacement. Add in that Lock had incentives worth up to $3 million baked into his contract, per Spotrac, and going with DeVito makes even more sense.

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Giants QB depth chart

Below is a look at how the Giants' depth chart stacks up after Jones' benching:

1. Tommy DeVito

2. Drew Lock

3. Daniel Jones

DeVito and Lock figure to get the rest of the quarterback work for the Giants during the 2024 NFL season. Jones has a $23 million injury guarantee in his contract for 2025, so New York will look to avoid triggering that over its last seven games.

It isn't yet clear whether the Giants will add another quarterback to their organization to further insulate themselves from playing Jones. Either way, it seems like the 2019 first-round pick has played his last down with the Giants.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Giants are starting QB Tommy DeVito after Daniel Jones benching