Eli Manning--A Long Way to Go

Eli Manning is a much improved quarterback. I can't deny it, as overrated as I think Eli is. However, that doesn't mean he's good, it just means that he isn't as horrible as he used to be. He's far from a top-15 quarterback in the league.

I know Manning supporters will say numbers don't tell the whole story, but let's start off by looking at them anyways. If you are feeling a little queasy, feel free to skip past the following table, which shows his performance the past three years.

Year QB Rating Comp Pct Y/A TD INT Fb Lost 2005 75.9 52.8 6.8 24 17 9 2 2006 77 57.7 6.2 24 18 9 2 2007 73.9 56.1 6.3 23 20 13 7 rank in 2007 25 T-29 T-26 11 T-1 T-2 T-2

What's most amazing about those numbers is that the Giants have always surrounded Eli with talent. This isn't Tom Brady in 2006, where his best receiver the whole season (by a long shot) was Reche Caldwell (and Brady still posted solid numbers). Eli had Tiki and Jacobs in 2005 and 2006, and replaced Tiki with Derrick Ward and Bradshaw in 2007. Plax, Shockey, and Toomer have also been around for all three years. Many of Eli's good plays were a result of just somehow getting it to Plax, whether throwing a jump ball or seeing Plax break tackles.

Plax Jump Ball TD

Eli Manning supporter: Yeah, but look at the postseason last year. Eli's turned it around! 95.7 QB rating, 6 TDs, 1 INT, 7.2 Y/A, a decent 60.5% completion percentage. The drive against the Pats to win the game! How can you deny that Eli Manning has finally come around and deserves respect now?

It's true, Eli had a great postseason and posted good numbers en route to a Super Bowl title over the only team to ever have gone 16-0. However, the defenses that he succeeded against in the first couple rounds basically packed the line and dared Eli to throw the ball into single coverage. In short, Eli only did well because teams gave him easy opportunities to throw the ball. Teams expected to be playing a horrible quarterback, and Eli played above average.

Meanwhile, in the Super Bowl, the Giants defense had a much larger role than the offense in winning that game. The winning drive easily could've ended in interceptions a couple times, especially the ball Asante Samuel failed to come down with on the sideline. Also, while Eli did a good job evading tacklers on Tyree's catch, are we really going to give him credit for lofting the ball to the middle of the field into coverage?

Now that teams might be more wary of Manning's arm (they still might not be), let's see how Manning performs in 2008. If the first game was any indication, the "new" Eli isn't any different than the "old" Eli. Yeah, the Giants beat the Redskins 16-7, and Eli rushed for a TD, but let's take a closer look at his performance. Eli threw 5 passes that easily could've been interceptions (including a sure pick six).

Eli has a long way to go before establishing himself as a good quarterback in the NFL.