We all know that Eli is in the back end of his career. Jerry Reese has already mentioned that finding a successor for Eli is on the radar.
The question is, how should we approach this?
The problem is that franchise Quarterbacks are something of a rare and valuable commodity.
Free Agency is a little hit and miss and with so many teams with major needs at Quarterback, any strong QB candidate available is likely to get decent money and also likely get an opportunity to compete for a starting job elsewhere. We really can't afford to invest substantial cap dollars when we need to address other areas of the team.
In the draft, there aren't a whole lot of quality QB prospects coming through. Barring a major collapse along the lines of Indianapolis in 2011 or some blockbuster trade which mortages our future, those elite prospects are going to be out of reach.
We could we wait and try and catch lighting in a bottle like Dallas did with Dak Prescott with the day 2/ early day 3 draft picks, but those are rare (and we have tried that in the past with the likes of Ryan Nassib and Jesse Palmer).
Should we consider trading for a younger QB, perhaps on a rookie contract but hasn't had the success expected to date? They could be groomed/developed behind Eli for a year or two, not unlike what Green Bay did with Aaron Rogers and Brett Favre. Maybe someone like Blake Bortles who was a highly rated prospect but seems out of favour?
There are lots of factors to consider, but the reality is that we will need to find Eli's successor at some point in the not too distant future.
What are your thoughts on how we find our future franchise QB?
Meanwhile, they also will try to find a QB with the 4th or 5th round pick, as a young backup in case Eli does get hurt.
This won't be a Favre to Rodgers handoff, because Eli probably is closer to the end of his career than Favre was when Rodgers was drafted. Giants don't have the luxury of drafting a QB prospect with a first round pick and letting him sit for a few years. But to Eli's credit, he wouldn't freeze out his successor for that time period.
A Chad Kelly or Nathan Peterman would be ok IMO. Doubt Nassib has a high ceiling and the team does need a backup QB with a higher ceiling (at least the potential)
A guy I like this year is David Webb, and I would love to land him in the 4th.
Let me clarify before some over zealous folks jump on me for saying "the problem is this will be a SB contender next year"....obviously that's a great thing...what I mean is it will make acquiring a potential franchise QB problematic/difficult without sacrificing a ton to get him if the conviction on the player is strong
This time around, I think the Giants are going to again look for a QB in the mid rounds, and have them replace Nassib's spot on the roster, but that doesn't mean that they will be Eli's replacement. But sometime over the course of the next year or two, the Giants will need to get serious about having a new QB. I don't think they are quite there just yet. They need to replace Nassib first.
Hope a franchise QB is available. Basically what Indy did post-Peyton
Unless we build a dynamic young OL, given today's league, one of the qualities s/b good mobility, and an Eli like attitude to deal with NY media.
However the Giants will have to replace him as soon as they can find someone who gives them a better chance of winning.
If the guy spends four years as Eli's backup it's still not such a bad investment. It's like the insurance we pay for that we hope we never need to use.
Once Eli leaves unless this team has chosen a very talented player relatively high and developed him for years there isn't really a plan. I'm sure they are constantly looking.
simple
Johnson is not the "succession plan" to Eli. He very well is the succession plan to Nassib. Nassib will not be resigned. I could see him going to Jax. He likely won't start, but with the new regime being more favorable of Nassib, he has a better shot of playing in games than merely holding a clipboard. If Bortles continues to regress, he'll be on a short leash and Nassib might just see some gametime.
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they like Johnson. He will be the back up unless an arm in camp blows them away. It would have to be with his knowledge of reading a defense. Eli and Mac are attached at the waist because the QB has to call the play based on the defense. You don't learn to read a defense coming out of college it takes years.
Johnson is not the "succession plan" to Eli. He very well is the succession plan to Nassib. Nassib will not be resigned. I could see him going to Jax. He likely won't start, but with the new regime being more favorable of Nassib, he has a better shot of playing in games than merely holding a clipboard. If Bortles continues to regress, he'll be on a short leash and Nassib might just see some gametime.
Agreed. Johnson is not Eli's successor. He is a "bridge" between Eli and his eventual successor.
This is a bad year for QBs. Trubisky is the only one I'd take in the first round, but would be stunned if he was available at #23. I would not take Watson or Kizer. Watson may not even be 6'2", and therefore probably doesn't meet the size requirements the Giants have for the position.
Also no interest in Kelly or Peterman. Kelly is a gunslinging head case. Late day three at best. Peterman has already reached his ceiling. Career back up.
Webb is the only other possible QB. 6'4" with a stronger arm than Goff, and good accuracy. Great leadership skills. But comes from two "air raid" offenses at Cal, and Texas Tech. Has never been under center. Has a tendency to sail passes. 60% of his throws were also less than ten yards from the LOS. Not a threat to scramble. Skinny legs. Late 3rd/early 4th, but his value could increase because it's such a weak QB class, and if Palmer retires. The Giants interviewed him, and he could learn behind Eli for the next two years.
Like ripping off a band-aid quickly...
Build the holy crap out of your offensive line which makes the Newb. a whole heck of a lot more effective.
Then, rants going back 20 years:
Find college level QBs who really thrived anyway in crap or marginal programs behind shaky suspect offensive lines.
In this way you improve your margins of success.
As to the question how should Eli's succession plan look; Blank. Too tough and difficult an issue to face
The reality is we will likely need to replace Eli in the next few years. There are a lot of teams that are currently in dire need of a QB and that will grow with once the likes of Brees, Brady, Manning, Roethlisberger, Rivers, Smith, Rogers etc likely to be hanging up their boots over the next few years.
I do think many fans take for granted what Eli has given us for many years and have forgotten just how rare an quality franchise QB is. The older fans among us will remember how it was after Simms, it wasn't pretty until things were stabilised when we brought in Collins.
We aren't likely to be in a position (barring some unforseen disaster) to be drafting early enough for an elite QB in the draft. So if a quality QB talent is needed, we are very likely going to have to make a substantial investment in resources be it trade up in the draft, trade for a player or signing a free agent.
The other factor in this is Odell Beckham. His rookie contract expires after 2017, we will use the fifth year option for 2018. Even if we franchise Beckham in 2019, he will get his monster contract which will likely be somewhere around the timeframe that Eli's replacement could be needed, particular with Eli's contract winding up around then. Could Beckham become a distraction with a sub par QB? Heck could it inspire him to seek greener pastures elsewhere.
Considering the high demand and limited option available at QB, I think waiting to see how things unfold is a little short-sighted at best. We should be starting to consider how we plan to replace Eli whenever we expect that to happen.