Eli on the Bench again?
- Mar 26, 2018
- 2 min read
Eli has been a workhorse for the New York Giants since 2004. He was initially drafted by the then, San Diego Chargers and immediately traded to the Giants in exchange for a package containing the 4th overall pick that year, which the Chargers used to acquire Phillip Rivers.
Up until his unceremonious benching in week 13 Eli had started 210 consecutive games from 2004-2017. During his time with the franchise, he has brought them home two Superbowl trophies defeating the impressive Belichick-Brady led New England Patriots.
It was clear that 2017 was a struggle for Eli Manning and the Giants. But what led to then Head Coach, Ben Macadoo benching his Franchise, 2x Superbowl Champion Quarterback in favor of a back-up Geno Smith.?
There are so many contributing factors to his performance issues in 2017, the Giants O-Line was terrible, Eli lost his best receivers, Beckham and Marshall early in the season. But was Eli to blame? As a Giants fan, I don’t think so. Statistically he was no worse than last year, he attempted 571 passes and completed 352 with a 61.6% passer rating as opposed to 2016 when he attempted 598 passes and completed 377 with a passer rating of 63%. So, performance wise, there was no significant drop off. But, Macadoo needed a scapegoat to deter from his own failings, and sadly that was Eli.
The interview he gave to American Television (see below) was a telling tale. It was clear that emotionally this rocked him, had the franchise given up on him after all these years? Was surely the question that was on his mind while he sat on the bench, suited up watching someone else throw passes for the New York Giants, a place he had called home since 2004.
Going into 2018 there is a very real scenario that we could see play out.
The Giants have the 2nd overall pick, and could very possibly take a QB at that position. What happens if that QB turns up to practice and outpaces Eli in such a way that the Giants are forced to put him under center? In all likeliness, that will not happen. But with the selection of a QB so high in the draft, Eli will be thinking his time is up.
If I could sit down with Eli and ask him a question, It would be this. Are you ready for retirement? Now likely what we will hear is “no, I still have football in my blood, I still have a thirst for the game”, which of course would be the media coached answer. However, Eli is 37, he has had a successful career with the Giants, he has 2 Superbowl rings in his safe and he is no doubt going to the Hall of Fame. So is it time, is it time to hand the franchise keys over to the next man up?
Whatever happens this year, or the year after that, as a Giants fan, I want to thank Eli for the years of service to the team and to the game of Football.
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