Overall, I'm actually pretty impressed with Eli's performance this year, considering how bad the team around him is. I'm also not blind to the fact that he's going to be 38 and the Giants need to have a replacement for after 2019 or 2020 (if they extend him for salary cap purposes).
However, only a fool would view Eli as part of the problem and not part of the solution (at least for the short term). Today was a perfect example - he singlehandedly carved up the Colts defense with a shoddy offensive line and ABSOLUTELY NO RUNNING GAME TO SPEAK OF. Yes, he's had a couple bad games (first Redksins game and Titans game) and a few brutally awful moments (INT in 2nd Eagles game) but otherwise he's shown to be a more than capable quarterback and appears to be rejuvenated after a rough 2017 campaign.
I know some of the mouth-breathers and fantasy football geeks on here are trying to run him out of town (strangely without presenting a feasible succession plan) just like they did with Coughlin 3 years ago. Eli is asbolutely not without flaws and deserves his fair share of criticism but he still gives the Giants the best chance to compete and hopefully win next year.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Eli may no longer be a top-tier QB but he's more than servicable and Shurmur has finally figured out how to use him appropriately (i.e. more under center, play-action, rollouts). Many of the players STARTING for the Giants this season would be hard-pressed to make the 53-man roster of most other teams and that's an unfortunate fact. If your heart doesn't break for Eli and the situtation he's been put in for the last several years, you have a very warped view of reality. Get him a competent offensive line and SOME/ANY talent on the defensive side of the ball next year and the Giants can be a playoff team again with Eli at the helm.
In essence, they have to hit on a QB this draft, in a draft considered devoid of talent, picking behind other teams that also need QBs. Dire straits imo.
Jim - I totally agree this is the year draft Manning's replacement.
I have a little bit of a different view on QB, I feel there are a 3 or 4 guys in every draft that can be franchise guys, and it's not always just the blue chip, big measurable guys.
I look at Deshaun Watson as a great example. I want a guy who has the arm to make most of the throws, the wheels to make up for when the line fails, and the football IQ to grasp a system.
But overall I want a cerebral and innovative HC, a patient GM, and ownership who spends. If you have the latter, you don't need a blue chip. You can succeed with a red chip type QB.
The worst team to be is like Detroit. Stafford is a dynamite player, who will never, ever win because of the rotating dysfunction of that team.
Contrast that with Baltimore. They got a ring and a run of success out of a less than blue chip guy in Flacco, and now they are in the hunt with a less than blue chip guy in Jackson. I want that.
my guess is the Giants will draft a qb more mobile than Manning or Simms (already have with Lauletta--although the original Simms was fairly spry when young prior to injury...:))
my guess is the Giants will draft a qb more mobile than Manning or Simms (already have with Lauletta--although the original Simms was fairly spry when young prior to injury...:))
Exactly. I just want functional
They brought in Smith last year, the type stop gap wannabe QB that's usually available, gave him a tryout, and people screamed bloody murder. People laughed at the Vikings and Redskins for paying what they did for so-so QBs. Those two situations are the most likely veteran alternatives to Eli. The draft this year isn't looking too good for QBs. More likely to draft a Sanchez than a Mahommes. That's the reality for replacing Eli this year. You can scream 'dump Eli' all you want, but the 'no matter what' is likely to be a shitshow.
If Eli comes back, it doesn't automatically mean the Giants don't want to move on, and aren't trying. It just means they've decided he's the best option right now rather than throwing away resources on players who aren't likely to be any better. They may be wrong.
Apologize if you read “no matter what” as view is less than that. I do not find it reasonable that we can’t replace Eli and get some good with some bad in his replacement. We get that now with Eli and it’s not getting better so maybe some other options can give Shurmur more flexibility if we don’t need a QB to win games but at lest be more athletic and mobile to extend drives and score in the red zone. Eli is a sitting duck and not interested in hanging in pocket or escaping trouble and every one of those plays could go better with a different option.
Again, not trying is an easy path to nowhere...
Eli can't play consistently from week to week. He has these "once in a while" games and that distorts the entire landscape. This games was indoors and in a comfortable setting. There is nostalgia playing in Indy...
Book this - if we keep Eli for another season, these games will be even fewer and far between.
And then what?
well said and I completely agree, people seem to let their loyalty to Eli cloud what is clearly there to see, actually its not being fair to Eli to expect him to be any better at his age, and one more thing, his father and brother were both very good NFL QBs and they should be telling him, its time...