Is Eli Proving me Wrong?

Eli’s numbers this year have been good so far, as he’s thrown for an average of 227 yards per game with 9 touchdowns and 4 interceptions through 7 games, which puts him on pace to throw for 3630 yards and about 20.5 touchdowns with only 9 interceptions. He has a completion percentage over 60% (61.4), a Y/A of 7.1, and a QB rating of 88.9. Those numbers are meteoric rises over his previous years (see article below), and I don’t expect this to continue. Eli is always pretty good in the beginning of the season. Here are his statistics through the first 7 games of the season since 2005, his first full season as a starter.

Year	Comp Pct	Y/A	yards/game	TD	INT
2005	51.1	6.9	222	13	5
2006	61.4	7.2	239	14	8
2007	60.9	6.7	218	13	9
2008	61.4	7.1	227	9	4

As you can see, the good statistics that Eli has put up this year through the first 7 games are actually no surprise. In no way does his play this season make him deserving of being considered a fantasy superstar (only 13th most points for a quarterback so far this season anyways) and much less an NFL superstar.

Eli Manning Supporter: But these stats are building upon an amazing postseason run last season! You’re just bitter that he beat your favorite team in the Super Bowl, Jeff! Just say it Jeff, Eli is better than Peyton now! Way better than Romo, way better than Roethlisberger, he’s one of the best!
Me: (after vomiting a few times) Please read my article Eli Manning--A Long Way to Go, where I explain how Eli’s play last year in the postseason was more due to the defenses he faced and sheer luck that he didn’t throw a pick in that Super Bowl drive.

Also, after watching the Giants-Steelers game last week, it became apparent to me that I have rarely seen an experienced quarterback settle for a higher percentage of checkdown passes. That's why he started the game 9/10, not because he was actually throwing accurately. Correction, he was throwing slow passes very accurately to people maybe 5 yards away from him who were wide open. The first time he threw to anybody who wasn’t wide open, he jumped backwards and then almost threw an interception with the Giants at Pittsburgh’s 1 yard line (fade away!). Sure, Eli’s Y/A is over 7 for the season, but that is due to the yards after catch of the Giant’s very talented offensive weapons (Plax, Toomer, Steve Smith, Domenik Hixon, Sinorice Moss, Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward, Ahmad Bradshaw).

Make no mistake; the Giants are not Eli’s team, but a team with Eli on it.

For Eli’s fantasy owners, there are two scenarios I can see for the rest of the year.
1) The Giants continue to give Eli easy plays and he finishes the year with respectable numbers, good enough to make him a respectable QB2.
2) Just like every other year so far, Eli will feel the pressure as the games begin to matter, and as he throws more passes down the field, the interceptions come and the frustration begins.

Conclusion: Trade him to someone who buys into the positive media buzz surrounding Eli.