The New York Giants re-signed quarterback Davis Webb this offseason, a move that had many Giant fans perplexed.
Aren’t the Giants supposed to be moving forward? Why are they bringing back a former draft bust?
Davis was a third-round pick out of Cal back in 2017 (Jerry Reese’s final draft as the Giants’ general manager) and there was some hope that they had a gem in their midst.
Not so, it seemed. Davis was never more than a backup player for the Giants, never appearing in a regular season game during his one season here, and was released during final cuts before the 2018 season.
The Jets quickly inked Webb to their practice squad and he served as a backup late in the season. He was released the next year and signed to the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad, where he connected with offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, who is now the head coach of the Giants.
Webb only played in one game for the Bills in his three seasons there backing up Josh Allen but he made such an impression on Daboll and assistant general manager Joe Schoen (now the Giants’ GM) that they thought he could add value to the Giants’ quarterback room.
“He’s unbelievable with his teammates in terms of off the field, studying,” Daboll said, via NJ Advance Media. “He would meet with Josh (Allen) every Friday night and go through our call sheet and organize it. (He’s a) great sounding board and a really good competitor.
“He’s a third-round QB that was raised in a football family and I just think there’s something untapped there.”
Davis, who battled for the starting job in college at Texas Tech with the likes of future Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield and future NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes, was a highly-regarded prospect himself coming out of Cal.
In 2016, the 6-foot-5 Davis threw for 4,295 yards and 37 touchdowns in 12 games for the Golden Bears. He was named MVP of the 2013 Holiday Bowl and the 2017 Senior Bowl, where the Giants took a liking to him.
There is more to Davis than just his ability to be a ‘sounding board’ and good teammate. The 27-year-old ay be a coach-in-waiting for some NFL team.
“Certainly, he has a career on the field that he wants to pursue,” Bills head coach Sean McDermott said this year at the NFL owners meetings. “But off the field, I think he’s got a future as a coach someday. His dad’s a coach. I think he’ll be well equipped to move into a role one day when he decides to hang it up.”
And the Giants are tapping into that aspect of Webb, who has a long career in football ahead of him. His goal is to work as hard as he can to help his teammates succeed.
“If we’re all succeeding, that means we’re winning and we can stick around a little longer,” Webb said.
