New York Giants, NFC East

The Eli Era in New York Ends

The Eli Era in New York Ends

New York Giants Set To Start Daniel Jones

New Starting QB Daniel Jones in his Duke days
Editorial credit: Soule’ Photography / Shutterstock.com

Despite having a porous Offensive Line and little in the way of defense, the New York Giants have decided to throw Rookie QB Daniel Jones in as the starter for this Sunday’s trip to Tampa – which could be a baptism of fire with the Buccs front seven! The good news for Jones is that no one expects them to win so no pressure there, however, what it does throw up is question marks over what the Giants plan to do with Eli.

Not as bad as reported

Eli Manning

Eli in action against City neighbours The Jets Editorial credit: Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com

If you believed everything that has been written about Eli over the last few seasons you would think he was the worst QB ever to suit up for the Giants, however, this is far from the truth and despite having no O-Line in front of him, no support from the defense and little in the way of targets he still amassed 4,299 yards passing last season with a 92.4 passer rating (higher than in their 2007 Super Bowl season). His 556 yards in the opening two games would extrapolate out to 4,448 passing yards and this is without a recognised WR – his top target on Sunday Bennie Fowler has not manager 1000 yards receiving yet in five seasons!

What Now?

Well Eli could ride the bench for the rest of the season and then retire – which would hasten his passage into the Hall of Fame (in our opinion he should be a first-ballot inductee), or he could follow in his brother Peyton’s footsteps and join a fringe team who are only a QB short of the playoffs. Remember Eli has been putting up numbers with no support and he could still do a job if he has the pieces around him. There is nowhere in the NFC that fits the bill but in the AFC there is three teams who could use a bit of veteran help before their seasons capitulate:

Pittsburgh has just lost Big Ben for the season and similarly, Jacksonville is without their big free agency signing Nick Foles. Both have decent squads and in the Jags case, a fearsome defense (although this could be without Jalen Ramsey soon). But most intriguing is the NY Jets, who are down to their third-string QB now, and it wouldn’t even involve Eli clearing out his locker.

What About Daniel Jones?

The surprise No 6 pick in this years draft was never going to be a bench warmer forever, however, throwing him in at this stage with a questionable O-Line, limited offensive weapons and no help from the defense is an even bolder move than picking him so high was. So many promising young QB’s have seen their careers effectively ended by being thrown to the loins so to speak and the risk of this happening again is high. The one advantage he will have is mobility so he can hopefully stay out of trouble and Saquon Barkley is always there for a quick handoff.

 

The next couple of weeks will sure be interesting in NY.

 

 

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