New York Giants: Building a case that supports Manning
By Curt Macysyn
Much has been made of the new additions brought into the New York Giants this offseason.
However, it may be the last man standing for the New York Giants who makes or breaks the 2018 campaign. By eschewing Sam Darnold in the NFL Draft, Big Blue brass overtly gave a vote of confidence to veteran quarterback Eli Manning.
If the front office gets this wrong, it could be another non-playoff season for the G-Men.
Without question, the 2018 team will be better offensively. The additions of left tackle Nate Solder, and rookie running back Saquon Barkley significantly raise the bar. Another rookie, Will Hernandez, is expected to upgrade the offensive line as well.
Right now, the possibility exists of a 100 percent newly configured offensive line. Even if Ereck Flowers gets the nod at right tackle, that represents a new position for him. Ditto for Jon Halapio – if he wins the starting center competition.
At first glance, there are enough offensive pieces to make things work this fall. But in the end that means everything depends on a return to form for their veteran quarterback.
Hall of Fame?
Analyzing Eli Manning remains a complex endeavor, even if some folks pretend it’s easy. Regurgitating interception statistics or quarterback rating does not come close to telling the entire story. Doing that makes great talking points, but lacks context. Just like proponents point to two Super Bowl victories, that argument also lacks necessary context.
Shortsighted folks utter that the younger Manning cannot be considered a Hall of Fame player. In the next breath, they quote career statistics of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, – two sure-fire Hall of Famers.
Comparing Brady and Eli Manning represents a fool’s errands. Brady has asignificant edge over the younger Manning in so many areas. But that doesn’t mean Eli isn’t a quality quarterback in his own right. Some consider Joe Montana to be the best QB of all time. That doesn’t mean that John Elway, Jim Kelly or Dan Marino weren’t Hall of Fame worthy.
Now to understand Brady, is to see that he has an incredible 0.63 games-to-interception rate. The elder Manning has a 0.94 rate. Both chart under an interception per game played. Clearly, we don’t even have to get into more statistically with each player to understand the greatness of each guy.
But what about a second level of Hall of Fame players? Can they help us draw conclusions about Manning’s capabilities?
New York Giants
In terms of drawing parallels, two quarterbacks immediately come to mind: Kurt Warner and Brett Favre. Both are already enshrined in Canton. Warner threw 128 interceptions in 124 games played. For his career, Favre had a 1.11 interception rate. Both had more interceptions than games played. In his storied career, Favre threw 336 picks, and he still became a no-doubt Hall of Famer.
Throwing away his rookie season, Favre averaged 17.7 interceptions in 19 NFL seasons. Using the same rudimentary comparison, Manning has averaged 16.3 interceptions per season.
Comparing Manning
Let’s get the ugliness out of the way. Eli Manning has led the NFL in interceptions thrown three times. Favre also led the league in picks three separate times.
There were also two seasons where Manning’s touchdown-to-interception rate was underwater. In 2004, his rookie season, Eli had six touchdown passes and nine interceptions. Nothing to see there, except those who want to pick him apart.
More to the point, in 2013, he had 18 touchdowns and 27 interceptions. By comparison, Favre had four seasons that were underwater, and two seasons where his touchdowns matched his interception total. Manning’s interception-to-games played ratio is 1.05, which is better than Favre.
Because Favre was considered a gunslinger, he seems to get a pass. Everyone likes Kurt Warner, and he had a few great seasons. But as you see, Manning stacks up favorably to both Favre and Warner.
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None of this guarantees that Manning will be a Pro Bowler in 2018. But taking this step back to see how he stacks up against other QBs is to understand why the New York Giants brass are willing to give it a shot.