Joe Sean needs to listen to his own wise words.
And ask manager Brian Daboll and the Giants’ other key decision makers to remember them over the coming weeks.
“The best way to predict the future is the past,” the general manager said during a meeting that aired on “Hard Knocks.”
When it comes to soul-scrutiny during training camp, the Giants’ recent past reads like an epitaph for lost seasons.
Obvious warning signs that repeatedly pop up during preseason practices — failed blocks, failed coverage, inability to achieve route separation, to be precise — are raised as concerns by spectators but too often ignored internally in an attempt to disallow wasted investment.
Or it is an apparent attempt to restore players’ confidence in the absence of a suitable alternative.
If the Giants make the same mistake of blindly evaluating right tackle Evan Neal, cornerback Cordell Flott or other unproven starter candidates rather than seeing it for themselves in training camp, history is enough to tell us what the future holds.
Manager Pat Shurmur declared that draft bust Ereck Flowers was “fantastic” and that the Giants were “a better team with him than without him.” In 2018, he benched Flowers after two starts and was on track to fire him after five games.
A year later, Shurmur was “confident” about using special teamer Antonio Hamilton as the starting cornerback, but called it quits after the second half of the season opener.
Shurmur’s successor, Joe Judge, felt cornerback Corey Balltine “grew big” as he went from a seldom-used rookie to a starter in 2020. Balltine was replaced in Week 3 and then waived by November.
The overrated trend has continued under Daboll, who is “really happy” with how free agent bust Kenny Golladay has “adjusted well” to the new offense in 2022 … but that was the precursor to a quiet Week 1, a benching in Week 2 and just six catches total for the season.
Due to the unconventional three-guard every-snap rotation that Daboll implemented last August, Mark Glowinski emerged as the starter in Week 1 and held the position for one game.
Most obviously, despite Eric Gray’s inconsistency in catching punts in practice, Daboll insisted Gray was “making good decisions” and Sean acknowledged forcing the rookie into the lineup, resulting in three fumbles and other errors on game day and a simultaneous injury and replacement in Week 7.
The evidence is there. It’s too late to panic and adjust in September.
Sean and Daboll need to field the best lineup possible by Week 1, even if it means spending some of their $11.7 million in salary-cap space to upgrade in free agency, because the schedule is unforgiving.
According to DraftKings’ projected betting lines, the Giants’ best chance to win the first half of the season comes over the first two weeks, when they are a one-point favorite at home to the Vikings and a three-point underdog on the road to the Commanders.
The quickest way to end their sixth 0-2 start in eight years is to extend an unfairly long lead.
Neal’s inactivity in the spring (including an obvious delay in his rehabilitation from ankle surgery) and lackluster performance over the past two years have some around the organization privately regretting the missed opportunity to draft Joe Alt (the Chargers’ No. 5 pick) more aggressively rather than waiting for energetic receiver Malik Neighbors at No. 6.
The insurance plan if Neal fails again is either Josh Ezeudu, who has already failed at left tackle, or a complicated mess of the offensive line to shift Jermaine Eluemunoh’s position at left guard. It’s not a certainty that Ezeudu would perform better on the right side, but it’s almost certain that the Giants, like they have with other regimes, will give the former first-round draft pick an unfair extra chance.
This isn’t the first time Neal has been given an exception: Tyre Phillips was cut at the last camp despite outperforming Neal when given the opportunity in 2022 and again after returning to the team in 2023.
Meanwhile, Sean joked on “Hard Knocks” that he might be able to play cornerback as the Giants’ improved pass rush increases the speed of opposing quarterbacks, which is probably why he’s quietly working towards the position.
The Giants have full faith in him as their outside starter, even though Flott quickly lost his slot spot to the emergence of rookie Tre Hawkins last summer. That, too, turned out to be a subtle error of judgment: Hawkins went from Week 1 starter to Week 2 reserve to Week 4 disappearance, while Flott eventually returned.
The top players in the company to replace Flott are Hawkins, Tre Herndon, David Long Jr. and Darnay Holmes, but none of them have guaranteed salaries and low expectations.
So the Giants can open training camp on July 23 with the confidence that Neal, Flott and other key role players, including Ezeudu, will make the rare leap forward that left tackle Andrew Thomas did between his freshman and sophomore years and his junior year.
Daboll has frequently used words like “confidence” and “improvement” in the media.
But what the Giants most need is an honest self-evaluation during training camp.
Or perhaps the next wisdom that applies to this season is, “It was over before it began.”
