Eli Manning has been the quarterback of the New York Giants for 14 seasons. His 210-game starting streak will come to an end on Dec. 3.
Giants head coach Ben McAdoo in two seasons has taken an 11-5 team last season and turned them into a 2-9 team starting Geno Smith in week 13. Eli Manning, a two-time Super Bowl champion, will be benched for the immediate future and presumably the rest of the 2017-18 NFL season.
The Future at Quarterback
I totally understand losing games when a team isn’t in the playoff hunt. I totally get that, but the Giants coming out and saying that they are evaluating other quarterbacks on their roster and then playing Geno Smith over Davis Webb is head scratching.
Geno Smith is a quarterback who has gotten his fair share of shots to make it as a starting NFL quarterback. He is 27 and has a 72.3 percent career passer rating. He has nearly two turnovers for every touchdown he’s accounted for.
Geno Smith has already been evaluated. If the Giants are looking at a quarterback for the future, why not attempt to evaluate Davis Webb, a 22-year-old rookie. On the other side, I guess it is a matter of practice team. I’m sure Davis Webb is not grabbing a ton of first team snaps. Geno Smith has much more experience in this category.
With the way this season has gone, I’m sure that the Giants would rather avoid a catastrophe than put their coaching staff under more pressure by putting a rookie quarterback into the fire. Either quarterback will be throwing to backup wide receivers and standing behind one of the worst offensive lines in football.
Eli’s Future
Eli Manning has dedicated 14 season to the New York Giants. As they look to get younger, they are caught in an interesting scenario. They aren’t looking to push their franchise quarterback out the door but they also want to build a young core. They have started by grouping Sterling Shepard, Odell Beckham Jr. and Evan Engram together and seem to be looking for a quarterback to match their youth.
In a way it makes sense to pull Eli and not let his last games get worse or get hurt on his way out and let Giants fans remember him for perhaps one of the bright spots in a season seemingly doomed from the moment Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall went down.
This doesn’t mean Eli is done as the Giants quarterback or even as an NFL quarterback, but as the 37-year-old quarterback looks on in the next few weeks, it’s hard to think that the management that threw Tom Coughlin to the wolves two years ago would be anything but loyal to the 14-year veteran.
What does tanking get you now?
Let’s be honest here, tanking doesn’t get the Giants a lot at this point. With five games left in the season, the Giants aren’t in control of their own destiny. They still are looking at the third worst record in football.
This move insures that they will lock up the third pick in the draft. However, they need some help to move up in the draft.
The Cleveland Browns are 0-11 and the San Francisco 49ers are 1-10. They could potentially get a break and move up at most a spot but I find it very difficult to bank on the Browns winning two or more games from here on out.
The Rest of the Season
As the season comes to a close, the Giants will probably leave Eli Manning on the sideline. The front office that has been under recent fire will continue to receive that noise throughout the offseason.
Eli Manning will probably be forced into retirement with this current management. The Giants look to be moving toward the future and even if that means cutting their franchise quarterback out of their plans they are more than okay with that.
Lots of people surrounding the Giants are just looking to move forward from this season. Even with Eli still under contract, the Giants could be giving him limited options on his future as a starting quarterback.
Featured Image from Businesspundit.com.
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