Giants wondering who next Mann is
The Giants are thinking about life after Eli.
In the wake of Big Blue’s playoff loss to the Packers and a 2016 season in which the team’s offense was a liability, general manager Jerry Reese admitted that the Giants have begun pondering who will be Eli Manning’s successor at starting quarterback.
“We always think about every position, but Eli is 36,” Reese said in his season-ending press conference Monday. “We have started to thinking about who’s the next quarterback, who’s in line. So we’ll look into that as we move through the offseason.”
Reese didn’t say Manning was finished, but seemed realistic about the fact that Manning probably has limited time left.
“Thirty-six, I don’t think that’s ancient for a quarterback,” Reese said. “I think he’s probably on the back nine but I don’t think that’s ancient for a quarterback. He’s taken care of himself really well.”
The Giants’ next franchise quarterback is likely not on their roster. Ryan Nassib hasn’t looked like a starter when he’s played in the preseason and is a pending free agent. Josh Johnson is a journeyman backup.
The problem for the Giants is not just that time is running out for Manning, but that he is already on the decline, even if the team won’t admit it. Reese was clear that the offense fell short of expectations but was not critical of Manning.
“I wouldn’t say it was a down year (for him), I just think, offensively, as a whole, it just didn’t function as a unit like we thought it would,” Reese said. He also described the offensive struggles of somewhat of a “mystery.”
Part of the answer to that mystery is Manning himself, who, despite Reese’s comments, did have a rough year. He finished the season with 26 touchdowns and 16 interceptions, good for 11 wins but just an 86.0 passer rating. That was 23rd in the NFL among quarterbacks with at least 200 pass attempts. Manning also finished 27th in QBR and 20th in Football Outsiders’ DVOA.
However, either the GM and head coach are in denial about Manning’s uneven performance or they simply don’t want to criticize him publicly.
“Eli, to me, was moving better in the pocket than he has since I got here. He threw with tremendous zip all season,” Ben McAdoo said. “He had a couple come out funny, but a lot of guys do in weather games.”
The one thing going for Big Blue is that Manning did play fairly well in the team’s playoff loss to the Packers on Sunday evening.
“I thought he finished the season strong,” Reese said. “He was in a really good rhythm last night when we were protecting, ran the ball a little bit, he was hitting guys and we just had some untimely drops right there that hurt us.”
Tight end Will Tye, who caught a 51-yard pass from his quarterback on Sunday, agreed but tellingly noticed a difference in Manning on Sunday compared to the rest of this season.
“Man, it felt like last year,” Tye said. “The way he was zipping it around. Eli was slinging it.”
Perhaps the Giants will be hoping to get the 2015 version of Manning in 2017 then.