Kyle Lauletta: “This is Eli Manning’s team”

The New York Giants selected quarterback Kyle Lauletta with the eighth selection in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. On Friday, Lauletta spoke to the media at the following the Giants rookie minicamp. Along with Lauletta, Shurmur also spoke to the media about Lauletta.

Lets take a look at some takeaways from both he and Shurmur’s time with the media:

On the pressure of being a rookie...

“Absolutely,” Lauletta said. “I think that’s the nature of the position. The quarterback has to be the leader of the group and he has to be intelligent, he has to know the offense and be able to help guys get lined up and that sort of thing. So just going through the playbook and trying to learn it as best I can right now.”

On what he wants to take away from Eli Manning...

“I don’t know if there is one specific thing,” Lauletta said. “Just everything about him. Just the way he interacts with his teammates, the way he commands the team, the way he plays the position. There is just so much you can learn and I think that’s something that you have to do once you get in front of him and once you start to observe the way he goes about his business and I’m looking forward to that. He’s been a champion, he’s been a really successful player and I’m looking forward to learning from him.”

On whether he had something to prove during the entire process...

“I don’t know,” Lauletta said. “Obviously out of high school I didn’t get offers to a lot of those big schools, but I saw that Richmond was a great opportunity for me and I don’t think they’ve had a lot of quarterback that have gotten drafted, but they’ve had a number of players who have been successful in the NFL. So I saw it as a good opportunity for me to get a good education and play high-level football. Richmond was great. We played big teams and I’ve experienced some pretty big environments and stuff. So Richmond was great and I’m just looking forward to the next chapter.”

On his situation with Davis Webb...

“Yeah, I mean I’m always going to try to compete and try to perform as best I can,” Lauletta said. “I don’t really see it like that and I don’t think Davis does either. Like I said, we’re all in this together, we’re all in the same boat learning a new offense so we’ll definitely be close and be friends and help each other out as best as we can. Just try to help each other grow and try to develop so as far as who’s the back-up and stuff of course both of us are going to compete and both of us are going to try to earn that spot, but that’s so far ahead in the future I just don’t think it’s worth even thinking about right now.”

On whether he sees himself as the future of the team...

“I don’t know,” Lauletta said. “It’s Eli Manning’s team. His success and his resume speaks for itself and I do think he has some years left. How many years? We’ll just have to wait and see, but like I said, I’m just going to do everything I can. Obviously I have high aspirations and confidence in myself and my abilities. I’m just going to perform and be the best teammate, the best player I can be and however the coaches see fit where I am on the depth chart or whatever, that’s up to them. So I’m looking forward to continuing to develop relationships with these guys and learn the playbook and just developing as a player the best I can.”

Head coach Pat Shumur on the challenges that Lauletta faces during mini camp...

“Yeah, the quarterback the first time doing anything,” Lauletta said. “He is in charge of everything and so certainly there is more on his plate, but from what I could tell by just watching him function in the walk through, I think he’s got a good feel for what he’s going to need to do today, and we’ll teach him more for tomorrow and so on, and then get him going on Monday with the rest of the guys.”

Shurmur on throwing Lauletta in into the fire to see what he can handle...

“Well, whatever you give a quarterback, it’s way more than anyone else is getting,” Lauletta said. “In a former life, way back when, what you did with the rookies – this was like shock treatment. You blew them up physically, emotionally, mentally and then by the time Monday came around, they’re like, ‘Holy smokes.’ I think what you’ve seen is, is what you’re trying to do is orient the guys, get them up to speed, get them going, challenge them physically and mentally and then let them go out there and show you what you can do. I’ve taken tests before where you look at the first question and you say, ‘This isn’t going to work out well.’ But I’ve taken tests, too, where you answer two or three right and things go well, so that’s what you look for.”