Eli Manning is going to be a great quarterback. He is already a pretty darn good one. Giants fans and sports writers seem to forget all the good things he has done. Remember the Eagles game in week two? How about the Broncos game last year? Even in the playoff game against the Eagles, Eli displayed the ability to step up big time in a big game. The problem with the Giants isn’t the quarterback. It’s a variety of things, you have to remember that this is a team and Eli isn’t the whole team. The defense was absolutely horrendous last year especially at defending the pass. The coaching was very questionable at some points. The receivers were dropping passes, there were numerous injuries on defense and a few key injuries on offense. I have watched every Giants game that Eli has played in since he was drafted and what I see is a pretty good quarterback out there. He’s definitely way better then Kerry Collins, Kent Graham, Danny Kannell or Dave Brown. He’s even thrown more touchdown passes in a single season then Phil Simms did in any of his seasons.
It’s true the Giants may have traded away a bit much for him, but that trade just can’t be judged until his entire career has played out. The NFC is weak, its antibody’s conference next year. With a few key off season acquisitions this Giants team could find themselves in the super bowl. Eli is still a very young quarterback, and every quarterback is different. The comparisons to Big Ben over in Pittsburgh and Phillip Rivers in San Diego shouldn’t even be being made because the Chargers and Steelers simply have had better teams then the Giants. He’s the number one pick, he’s the brother of one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game, so people are going to expect him to play that way. Well he’s not the whole team, he can’t help that the defense allowed the Eagles to drive down the field in the playoff game. He can’t help the fact that the coaching and play calling is absolutely horrible. All he can do is throw the ball and he throws it pretty well. He’s a little inconsistent, which is expected of any young quarterback, but you have to give him some time to develop. In three or four years from now he will be on top of his game, and maybe he will be able to carry the whole team like his big brother. To expect him to do it right out the gate is simply absurd.
It took Peyton a long time to win it all. Season after season of failing time and time again once the playoffs rolled around. Some started to doubt him, but he proved the doubters wrong, and Eli will too. He’s got his brothers blood in him, and now he’s seen his brother win it all. He’s got to be saying to himself “Hey, if Peyton can win it all, I know can.” He can win it all, and he will some day. Perhaps he will even meet his big brother there in the big game in the years to come.
