Why Joe Judge hire is a directional change for Giants

The era of the quarterback cocoon ends here. And now.

The Giants promoted Ben McAdoo from offensive coordinator to head coach in large part because they loved what he did to help fix Eli Manning and figured imposing a whole new system on Manning would be counterproductive.

Sure, the Giants hired Pat Shurmur because he was an “adult,’’ but mostly based on his excellence working and developing quarterbacks of all shapes and sizes. If he could get Case Keenum to an NFC Championship game, Shurmur’s hand on Manning and then whichever rookie quarterback the Giants plucked out of the NFL draft, the reasoning went, should lead to similar success.

This line of thinking guided some assessing the coaching search process to connect the dots and assume the Giants this time around would pick someone who best serves Daniel Jones. As it turned out, those dots remain scattered. The Giants did not sell their quarterback, no longer a rookie, on the candidates. None of the six interviews was tinged with “Take our quarterback … please’’ entreaties.

Joe Judge, with a background mostly in special teams, has no trace of ever working with quarterbacks at any stop on his coaching trail. The closest he got was picking up the added responsibility in 2019 of working with the Patriots’ wide receivers — you know, the guys who (sometimes) caught Tom Brady’s passes. Special teams coordinators work with players from virtually every position, blending big and small and fast and slow. They do not, however, put quarterbacks on the return team or turn quarterbacks into gunners on the punt coverage unit.

It is essential for Judge to find seasoned assistants to guide his offense and work with his inherited quarterback. It is important for Judge to get in the head of Daniel Jones and stay there, as there has to be a symbiotic relationship even though Judge will not be calling any plays. This does not mean this is a Judge-Jones production. A team does not get this bad for this long because of the demise of one player at one position.

Judge did not offer even the most perfunctory comment about Jones. He did not even say his name during Thursday’s introductory press conference. When given the opportunity to state what he liked about Jones, Judge put together words that used up oxygen and nothing else.

“I don’t want to get into any analysis of any player right now specifically,’’ Judge said. “I want to take my time, do my homework, and then reflect back on a time when I’ve had time to really break them all down. I understand the question, I appreciate the question, but I want to make sure that instead of just spurting off my mouth from, at this point still an outsider’s view, I’ve got to get the insider’s perspective with all of the information and further analyze what they can do.’’

Judge was reminded he was on the sideline at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 10 when the Patriots hosted the Giants. Jones struggled that night against the mighty Patriots defense, completing only 15 of 31 passes for 161 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions for a season-worst passer rating of 35.2. Surely, Judge came away with an impression of Jones.

“Again, I’m just going to go back with that one right there as far as that,’’ Judge said.

Judge was the last of five interviews the Giants conducted and every candidate got his chance to opine on what they saw in Jones.

“I will tell you this, it felt good that every person we interviewed loves the quarterback,’’ co-owner John Mara said. “They all said that to us. They all said, ‘We could win with this guy. He has some unique talents.’ That was something that was great for us to hear.’’

There is no reason to believe this is untrue, just as there is much to like about Daniel Jones. Still, it is difficult to believe anyone sitting down trying to get hired by the Giants would say, “Daniel Jones? Meh.’’

General manager Dave Gettleman said he really hasn’t spoken much to Judge about Jones.

“He’s on the outside looking in the periphery,’’ Gettleman said. “We believe Daniel is our guy.’’

Shurmur did the heavy lifting getting a prospect from Duke up to speed in the NFL game and suffered through Jones’ natural growing pains. If Jones goes on to big things, the foundation Shurmur set should always be remembered. Shurmur, though, did say after Jones tossed three interceptions against the Packers that it was a sign of progress: “Well, the turnovers were interceptions, right? Today they weren’t fumbles, right?’’

It is difficult to anticipate that sentiment flowing out of Judge. He said he is here to coach everyone hard. That includes the young quarterback.

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