As one of five NFC teams eliminated from playoff contention, the New York Giants don't have much play for on Sunday against the Chicago Bears, themselves a postseason cast-off. But the competition will at least be hot at the quarterback position, as coach Joe Judge said both Mike Glennon and Jake Fromm will see playing time in Chicago, and that the two will vie to earn the starting nod in practice this week, according to Darryl Slater of the Star-Ledger.
Fromm made his first career start against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday to disastrous results, completing 6 of 17 passes for 25 yards and an interception in a 34-10 loss. He was relieved by Glennon, who was more effective only by default. Pre-determining playing time for two quarterbacks isn't very common, but it happened just last week when Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule planned for both Sam Darnold and Cam Newton to see action. Neither was able to do much damage against a stout Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense in a 32-6 loss.
Certainly, the Giants know exactly what they have in Glennon as a career backup in his eighth pro season. The same can't be said of a developmental youngster such as Fromm. From that standpoint, playing Fromm in what appears to be a meaningless game might seem the obvious choice. But Judge bristled at the notion that the G-Men have nothing at stake.
"The expectations and the competitiveness, that doesn't change. We're not negotiating or compromising our standards around here," Judge said, via SNYTV. "Everything is important, it's the National Football League. ... There's no such thing as a meaningless game. There's wasted effort. There's wasted preparation, but there are no meaningless games."
The game also isn't meaningless from the standpoint of draft position.
The Giants are tied with the Jets and Texans with a 4-11 record for the No. 3 pick of the draft. In the event of a tie, draft order is determined by strength of schedule, but with two weeks left in the season, game outcomes could still break up the trio. Interestingly, the Giants hold the Bears' first-round draft pick, acquired from the draft-day trade that netted quarterback Justin Fields for the Bears. So while a loss to the 5-10 Bears would help solidify the Giants' claim to the No. 3 pick, it would weaken the Bears' draft position, and thus weaken the value of the Giants' other first-round selection.
In other words, the Giants can't really win on Sunday where the draft is concerned.
The only question is whether they can win playing two quarterbacks.
