Russell Wilson correctly identified a void in the Giants‘ locker room during his Wednesday introductory Zoom press conference:
A lack of leadership. A void he intends to fill.
“This team is really looking for somebody to lead them in every way,” Wilson said. “In terms of process and the offseason, during the season, our habits and our thought process, how we create a great winning culture, and how do we continue to establish that, to really build on things that we do well and things we need to continue to do.”
The question is whether Wilson, 36, is a wise choice to be that leader.
A glaring weakness of GM Joe Schoen‘s personnel evaluation has been his inability to recognize leadership qualities and their necessity on a team.
Various players tried to step into the void created last season by the departures of Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney, and the marginalization of Daniel Jones by the Giants’ publicized lack of belief in him. But no player on the 2024 Giants roster proved capable.
Dexter Lawrence tried to be the guy as the team’s best player, but the weight of the dysfunctional season got to him.
He lost his cool on the bench once, had to practice breathing exercises on the sideline a second time, disappeared with an injury down the stretch of the season and did not do an interview on breakup day.
Not everyone is cut out for a vocal, front-facing leadership role, though. Some players are better leading by example with their play.
Brian Burns was new to the team and seems more like a steady sounding board. Malik Nabers, 21, was and is still learning how to be a pro. Andrew Thomas is the quiet, cerebral type. Bobby Okereke’s influence in the new defensive scheme did not match the ‘C’ on his jersey.
Right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor talks, and Kayvon Thibodeaux got louder later in the season. But the Giants’ locker room was so starved for a steadying voice midway through the season that right guard Greg Van Roten was giving postgame speeches.
So in steps Wilson, who has won a Super Bowl, plays quarterback and has the pedigree to command a room’s attention. The question is whether his voice will carry and if Schoen again has misjudged what leadership looks like.
Wilson, for example, did not miss a single organizational talking point in Wednesday’s introductory interview. He gassed up an alarming number of teammates. He even said tight end Theo Johnson’s name four times.
Saying Johnson’s name once could be viewed as being an uplifting teammate. But the excessive sales job borders on not genuine or, at the very least, reading from a script.
This matters because Wilson’s lack of relatability was an enormous problem in Denver, where the Broncos soured on him quickly both on and off the field.
His former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll did not pursue him this offseason after getting the Raiders job, trading for Geno Smith to start his new program instead. Wilson wore on some Seattle teammates during his time in the Pacific Northwest, too.
Not a peep came out of Pittsburgh last season, but Steelers coach Mike Tomlin kept a lid on Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown for years. Tomlin is different.
Wilson frankly sounded more like a PR extension of the front office than a player on Wednesday, calling rarely-used receiver Jalin Hyatt — who wanted to be traded last fall — an “untapped” resource that he’s already embraced.
Many of his enthusiastic reviews crossed the line from positive to hokey, and he sounded a lot like a Giant when he attacked outside narratives, saying that Brian Daboll is “a tremendous football coach” and “it’s funny how people forget something how great of a person or coach the person is over some tough times.”
The team went 3-14 last season, Russell. That’s why. And a divide between the front office and coaching staff now exists because of it.
There is one good sign that came out of Wednesday’s presser: Wilson’s emphasis on leadership as a major need clearly came from the Giants’ brass.
This means that Schoen recognizes it as a problem that needs to be solved. That’s a step in the right direction.
Is Wilson the right man to fill that void? He’s going to try, but Wednesday was a strange and unsettling start.
