Vet with it: Tanney ID’d as Eli backup
Without actually naming the No. 2 quarterback behind Eli Manning, Giants coach Pat Shurmur on Wednesday identified Alex Tanney as the backup, with rookie Kyle Lauletta slotting in at No. 3, most likely inactive on game days.
“I’m very fond of a veteran presence backing up Eli,” Shurmur said. “Forget about the future, the future is now. Every NFL team is going to go into this year with a guy who’s a starter and a guy who’s his backup. The future is now, so that’s where we’re at.” Tanney, 30, has previously been with seven NFL teams but appeared in only one game, for the Titans in 2015, replacing injured Zach Mettenberger. Calling him a veteran is a bit like calling that old sweatshirt buried deep in your closet vintage wear. Tanney received the fewest reps during training camp and in the preseason games and was thought to be an extra arm, destined to be discarded when the final cuts came down. Instead, Tanney survived and the Giants waived Davis Webb, who subsequently was signed by the Jets for their practice squad.
Manning, 37, developed a friendship with Webb, 23, during their one full season together in 2017, on into this spring and summer. He sounded sorry to see Webb go, but did acknowledge having an older backup around could be helpful.
“Yeah, I think you can use that,” Manning said. “To talk ideas to or watching film and trying to analyze things and have a guy who’s been through it before and been in different offenses, has gameplanned a bunch, has played against certain defenses a lot and can give you some advice. I think it’s good to have, over the years, to have a vet in there.”
Tanney, from Division III Monmouth in Illinois, has kicked around the NFL since 2012, spending more time on practice squads than active rosters.
“Alex has been around, been in a lot of different offenses, been around a lot of football,” Manning said. “Doesn’t have a ton of game experience, but still, in a sense, like a coach might not have much game experience playing a game, but he can still know offenses and game plans and tendencies and defenses and schemes. It’s good to kind of pitch some ideas off him.”
Webb got the grim news Saturday, news that shocked him. It seemed to shock Manning as well, and he immediately dialed up his former teammate.
“It was tough on him,” Manning said. “He wanted to be here and put a lot of effort in, so I think he was surprised by it. We’ve been good pals these last two years, and so happy he got picked up and he doesn’t have to leave town. Makes it easier for him.”