Jake Fromm made his NFL debut in garbage time of the New York Giants' latest blowout loss, a 21-6 drag at the hands of the rival Dallas Cowboys.
The former Buffalo Bills practice squad QB looked better in his one drive than veteran signal-caller Mike Glennon did in nine drives. The play of both QBs could open the door for coach Joe Judge to start Fromm in Week 16 versus Philadelphia, assuming Daniel Jones remains out with a neck injury.
"We got to a point in the game where I wanted to see what Jake could do, point blank," Judge said, via the team's official website. "We weren't doing enough moving the ball otherwise, so I wanted to make sure I had the chance to see Jake and that will obviously open up a conversation about what we're going to do this week. We'll talk about it as a staff and we'll make the best decision for the team."
Following Glennon's third INT of the game, Fromm drove the Giants down the field, hitting on Big Blue's only explosive pass-play of the afternoon, a 36-yarder to Kenny Golladay. In one drive that ended in a turnover on downs, Fromm completed 6 of 12 attempts for 82 yards and took one sack. In nine drives, Glennon completed 13 of 24 attempts for 99 yards and threw three INTs. Seventeen fewer passing yards, eight fewer drives.
"Obviously, it was really fun to get out there," Fromm said. "It kind of checked the list, checked the box there a little bit. I got to complete a childhood dream and got to play in an NFL game. It was awesome, just the ability to go out there with the guys. There are some new guys, I'm new. It was just fun to be able to get out, move the ball a little bit, try to compete, and give us a chance to win there at the end.
"I was just trying to stay prepared throughout the whole game. I didn't know if I was going in at any particular time. I was just trying to stay ready. They told me there late in the fourth quarter, 'Hey, you're up.' I was just trying to get ready and try to make something happen."
A move to Fromm isn't really about the young QB. Of course, the Cowboys' defense was playing laxer at that point in the game, allowing Fromm to try a couple of deep shots. The point is that Glennon is not the answer. Never was. The process that continually leads NFL front offices to think a 32-year-old with a career 60 percent completion percentage, 46-32 TD-INT ratio, and six wins in 30 starts can be anything more than a clipboard-holding player-coach is faulty.
On Sunday, Glennon became the first Giants starting QB to throw for fewer than 100 yards and a sub-25 passer rating (24.8) since Danny Kanell in Week 11, 1998 (minimum 20 attempts). Underscoring the lack of dimension to the Giants offense, Glennon became the first player in the Next Gen Stats era with three INTs and fewer than five attempts on deep passes in a game.
In three starts, Glennon has completed 50.96 percent of 104 pass attempts with two passing TDs and five INTs, taken five sacks and averaged a woeful 4.59 yards per attempt; he entered the week dead last in yards per attempt among 39 qualifying QBs, per Pro Football Focus.
The Giants entered the season knowing that Jones hadn't made it through an entire 16-game slate in his career and thought it was the best move to have Glennon as the potential stand-in. It's poor front office processing. Fromm could toss 14 INTs next week, and it would still probably be more exciting than the flavorless turkey Glennon brings to the table.
"I thought we had some opportunities with Mike in there moving the ball," Judge said. "There were some shots we had. We thought it was time to go ahead and give Jake an opportunity to get in there and play. He got in there and moved the ball well, did some good things. Like I said, that will obviously open up the conversation in terms of what we're going to do next week against Philly."
Fromm, who has been in New York for about 20 days, is no savior. But at this point, why not just give the kid a shot? It can't be worse than what Judge's team has put on display the past three weeks.
