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Do we really need an evaluation of the quarterbacks on this team? Sure why not, let’s rehash the hash. I know the readers want more in-depth stuff especially about the secondary, so do I. For that I am really going to have to do my homework and I will. But I have to do every position, fair is fair so don’t kill me for this one please. Once this is out of the way I can move on to more interesting things and that’s the point about Eli Manning he’s just not that interesting, he just wins baby.

I wish somebody would explain why a two time super Bowl winning MVP would get so little respect from the sports media, even ex-Giants. Now it’s Amani (brain) Toomer, before it was Tiki Barber. Is it that they’re mad because he’s such a likable down to earth young man who only does good things on and off the field? Too bad for all those gossip mongers parading themselves as sports journalists out there, sorry guys. They have nothing to write about Eli, no dirt, no bar fights or DUIs, no drunken flings with hookers at posh hotels. I like it that way, if I had a son I would want him to be like Eli Manning.

His play has improved each year and most of the little technical/mechanical issues he had he fixed. Some of those issues I felt were not completely his fault, but Eli is too good a guy to throw his offensive line or receivers publicly under a bus. People have caught him yelling to the sideline about the pass protection, or lack of. He has taken a beating some times. We have seen Eli bloodied and battered and still come back and perform. Plus he never talks about all those receivers running the wrong routs.

Yes there where some real stinkers, that one or two against the Vikings. I think he was confused by the uniforms and kept throwing the ball to the wrong team, one game he had like 6 INTs. But other than that this awe shucks kid reminds me so much of those old time quarterbacks the Giants had like YA Title, Charlie Connerly and later Phil Simms.

I honestly believe had Simms gone to the Forty Niners he would have had a better career statistically. Montana was the best fit for the Niners and Phil was for the Giants, it all worked out. Like Simms, Eli Manning was also the best fit for the Giants. Big Ben is a great quarterback as is Rivers, but there was something about Eli that Ernie Accorsi saw. He knew this kid had the makeup to handle the New York Media and the others did not. Could y’all imagine Rivers in New York, he would have been traded by now after his third major meltdown in front of the media and Roethlisberger’s antics would not sit well with the conservative Giants hierarchy.

I do in all honesty feel like had Eli gotten a better group of receivers earlier in his career his stats would have been better. He always had two pretty good receivers but never that speed burner or field stretching type and never more than two quality receivers to throw to. The Giants where always a Coughlin power running team and Tiki Barber was a great back, no reason to change anything. After Tiki left the Giants they continued power running with a great line and a good rotation of running backs. It all worked out and winning two super bowls was better than most teams in the NFL have accomplished in the last 5 years. Too bad Moss never became that slot receiver for Eli, like Steve Smith did and now Cruz has become.

With the receiving corps the Giants have now it will be exciting to watch a more wide open offense, even the running backs are faster than they have ever been in Giants uniforms. I’m sure all the defensive coordinators are watching, they are going to have to come up with some schemes to stop this new Giants aerial attack. Hopefully the offensive line provides some protection and better run blocking than last year, yes the year the Giants won a super bowl. There is always room for improvement, even from Eli. He still has to make some better throws in certain situations and better decisions, nobody is perfect. Remember this, when you say elite there’s an Eli in there, OK you can moan now, that was bad, I know.

On to David Carr who is a very good backup, I am confident if Eli went down he could run this team better than most of the backups out there. People forget that the 1972 Miami Dolphins went 17-0 most of the season the quarterback was Earl Morrall. He was an aging, no OLD player way past his prime, Bob Greise was injured the majority of the season.

If you look at the stats from Carr’s early career they are good, not great, especially considering the team. He had a future as an NFL QB, in his third year he threw for over 3500 yards, that was 2004. But you have to look at his sacks, 76 and 21 fumbles in his first year, 49 and 10 in his third and 68 and 17 in his fourth. Carr was destroyed every year because of poor offensive lines, his body was battered and bruised much more than any QB should have been. The GM for the Texans was Charlie Casserly who did a poor job of finding those middle round gems that build a successful team, especially the offensive line. He should have been flogged for not putting together at least a descent offensive line in the five years Carr was at Houston. That’s a lot of hits and he never got over it. If you look at his mechanics and presence in the pocket during practice he looks like a top notch NFL QB. But game time he doesn’t and I attribute that to his early career. I am confident that he would for a short time run the team well enough and be more of a game manager. He also does a very important job, the backup QB doesn’t just sit around, he is invaluable in meetings and helps put together game plans.

What happened to Carr I have seen happen to a lot of QBs in the NFL. They come into the league with a lot of promise, they go to a bad team that never gives them an offensive line to protect them nor receivers to throw to, they’re lucky if they have a running game. I see it happening to Mark Sanchez of the Jets right now, the team’s cluelessness is ruining his career, no receivers, trading for Tebow, who’s running that show? Some of these QBs gets sacked and abused until they are no longer the player with promise they once were. Like a fighter that got knocked out too many times he’s punch drunk. His timing is off from getting hit too many times and his confidence as a player is shot, now he’s a bum. Would Eli Manning be a two time super bowl MVP if he went to the Bengals or would he have suffered the same fate as Carson Palmer? Carson Palmer is/was a GREAT QB, but suffered with being a Bengal and now a Raider. Eli’s daddy did not want that to happen to Eli and was protecting him when he told the Chargers forget it.

Someday the Giants are going to have to find a future QB. They already wasted two picks trying to find a developmental QB and gave up on that idea for now, I hope. What should the Giants do, tank a season so they get the #1 pick and find another Eli Manning? If that’s what they have to do than so be it, but that is still far away from happening. I can see it now……”After a few years of trying to replace the retired 5 time super bowl winning quarterback Eli Manning the Giants finally have their man. With a 2-14 record and the first pick in the 2020 draft the Giants select…..”