Alex Tanney has been apart of the New York Giants organization ever since Pat Shurmur’s first season as head coach in 2018. His experience and play in his first preseason lifted him in the competition against former third round pick Davis Webb and then fourth round rookie Kyle Lauletta. He was the backup quarterback the entire season behind veteran Eli Manning. In 2019, Tanney won the competition again for the 3rd-string job behind rookie Daniel Jones. Lauletta lost the battle and was cut. However, Tanney faces a different situation coming into 2020.
Is Alex Tanney on the chopping block?
Joe Judge installed Jason Garrett as his offensive coordinator. The two have familiarity nobody recognizes as Garrett was the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 2013 and Tanney was on the practice squad after being cut in the pre-season.
Cooper Rush and Colt McCoy are Tanney’s new competitors this summer. This prompts the question: Is Alex Tanney on the chopping block?
Why Tanney Could Be Cut
Alex Tanney has played in one game with the Giants over his two year tenure. That was Manning’s final career game, where after Manning exited, Tanney just gave some handoffs to backup running back Javorius Allen.
His new competition is tougher than the previous two seasons. He competed with Webb and Lauletta in 2018. Webb and Lauletta never played in a regular-season game at the time, unlike Tanney.
In 2019, he faced Kyle Lauletta for the third string spot. Although he offered some questionable throws, he made it over the wasted pick from Richmond that summer.
Enter Cooper Rush and Colt McCoy. McCoy, a wasted pick of the Cleveland Browns form 2010, has played in 37 more games than Tanney has.
Cooper Rush knows more of what offensive coordinator Jason Garrett is about. Tanney did get a feel of Garrett back in 2013 when he was on the practice squad. Both quarterbacks have played the same number of games, but Rush was around Garrett for longer (2017-2019).
Not to mention, Rush stayed behind and observed Dak Prescott, one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
Unless Tanney has a breakout summer, without any preseason games, he could be shown the door.
Why Tanney Will Not Be Cut
Dave Gettleman is the one guy left in the organization that has a liking for Tanney. He signed Tanney to an extension after the 2018 season, although it was devalued when Tanney was cut from the Giants for one game.
Gettleman could encourage others that Tanney can be a leader and a tutor to help Jones progress this season. However, Joe Judge has said already that he wants the coaches coaching players and not veterans.
When Manning was starting last season (in the games he did) and the year before, Tanney sat with Mike Shula to assist Jones and Lauletta. He is no quarterback genius or a player like Manning, but he pointed out mistakes to help those two young players learn from them in the future.
Though Rush did sit behind Prescott, he did not tutor anyone in Dallas. Along with Case Keenum McCoy assisted in preparing Dwayne Haskins for the NFL. He did the same for Brandon Weeden, but his career turned out worse than McCoy’s.
If McCoy wins the competition, Tanney still has a shot at being quarterback three if Rush does not hang on. The leverage over Rush is his ability to be a veteran leader. Most likely, this will be Tanney’s last shot at a roster spot in his journeyman career.
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