'Nowhere else I'd rather be' - Giants are home for Tommy DeVito. Will QB get to stay?

EAST RUTHERFORD - Tommy DeVito signed with the New York Giants as an undrafted rookie quarterback with a defined role, one that was made clear to him early on by offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and Shea Tierney, his position coach.

The Giants were not bringing DeVito in because they wanted him to fall in line behind Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor, the incumbent starter to whom the franchise just gave a $160 million contract and the 12-year veteran with 53 career starts under his belt.

Fitting in was a must for DeVito, of course, but he wasn't here just to serve as the backup's backup, and that was an integral part of the mission statement hammered home from Day 1.

"Coach Shea and Coach Kaf sat me down, explained to me the standard of what it was to be a quarterback here," DeVito told NorthJersey.com following practice Wednesday. "Not just to take the low hanging fruit and want to be at the bottom, be happy just being here. I want to be the best I could be – obviously Daniel’s Daniel, and Tyrod’s been in the league for a bunch of years, he’s very established. So, the situation I’m in, I needed to understand that I was learning as well as competing. Everybody’s competing, even if I’m not competing with them on every throw. They needed me to be the best quarterback I could be for the New York Giants, and that was my goal."

DeVito has become a better quarterback than most observers anticipated when he arrived in the spring. He has played himself into strong consideration to be the team's developmental quarterback on the practice squad, one snap away from getting the opportunity to join the roster on game day at some point this season.

He has played well in two preseason games and could wind up starting for the Giants against the Jets in their preseason finale Saturday night, and if he does, he'll be opposite the legendary quarterback he's long admired.

And if that happens, it will be DeVito's first start at MetLife Stadium going back eight years to when he was a junior in high school at Don Bosco when he played for - and won - the State title with the Ironmen.

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"I’ve thought about it, yeah, it would be wild," DeVito said. "The last time I started a game at MetLife was in high school playing for the State championship. I mean, if that was to happen, who knows what it’d feel like. And, Aaron Rodgers was my favorite quarterback growing up. So, just to be able to be on the same field at some point it’s like a dream come true. Maybe I’ll get the chance to meet him after the game. Lives in my town now, so it’s something all the people back home are talking about, I’m looking forward to it."

When you grow up in the shadow of the Meadowlands, when a 20-minute drive to work from his family's Cedar Grove home is to the office across the MetLife Stadium parking lot, there is plenty to appreciate about the opportunity.

DeVito led Don Bosco to a Non-Public, Group 4 title as a junior and the offense was tailored around his skill set, giving him more freedom at the line of scrimmage. He threw for 3,238 yards and 33 touchdowns with 11 interceptions over two seasons.

DeVito, who turned 25 earlier this month, agreed to a deal with the Giants that includes a $10,000 signing bonus and $10,000 base salary guarantee as an undrafted free agent. That's obviously in a different stratosphere than the lucrative deal Jones signed with the Giants back in March and a far cry from the $5.450 million Taylor is set to earn as the backup this season.

The switch to more of a pro-style system at Illinois benefitted DeVito, who completed nearly 70 percent of his passes for 15 touchdowns and just four interceptions. Still, his development from the first time he stepped on the practice fields at 1925 Giants Drive is noticeable, drawing praise from those who have watched him closely.

"Tommy’s got a lot of confidence. You need to have it. He doesn’t lack for it, and that’s a great thing to have," Tierney told NorthJersey.com. "When you’re the field general of the offense, those guys always look to you, so body language, how you carry yourself and all of those things, Tommy’s got that and he’s done a really good job."

At 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, DeVito has good athleticism for the position. His decisiveness with more comfort in the Giants' offense has added to the velocity of his passes, especially in traffic, drawing oohs and aahs from teammates in recent practices.

"His ability to spit the ball out is really good, and that helps nowadays when you’re trying to throw different RPOs and things out on the perimeter," Tierney said of DeVito. "Being able to spit that ball out really fast is a big key, and he’s an athletic kid. He can get out and up in the pocket, move around to his left and to his right, and that helps."

On the last play of Thursday's practice, DeVito fired a touchdown to another undrafted rookie in receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton. The Giants have their preseason finale against the Jets on Saturday, and when they return to the practice field Tuesday, or shortly thereafter, the roster will be pared down to 53.

While DeVito would love for the Giants to keep three quarterbacks on the active roster, that scenario appears improbable. The more likely situation is that DeVito will be waived, and, then, if he clears waivers without another team picking him up, he would then be free to re-sign with the Giants' practice squad.

The presumption is that the Giants want him here, but the immediate future remains uncertain.

"I don’t know what’s going to happen," DeVito said. "Veteran guys in the locker room, they all talk about how people come and go every day. It’s part of the league, that’s the business part of the NFL. You’ve got to keep your mind open to all possibilities. Every day is its own day, and you never know what’s going to happen. No doubt in my mind that I want to be here. I want to stay. Nowhere else I’d rather be."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Tommy DeVito: NY Giants rookie try to make roster at crossroads