Eli Manning ranked the 31st Player in the N.F.L. Is it Justified?

Wednesday Night’s NFL Network revealed that Eli Manning is the 31st player in the N.F.L. Eli Manning is a very interesting case study in the top 100 rankings. After not being ranked at all last year, Eli manning may have seen the biggest jump of any player on the list. But the question is it justified.

If you go to the top 100 home page , you’ll notice that only 10 of the 70 players revealed so far are considered over-rated. Eli Manning is one of them based on the fan vote, but Eli Manning’s over 5000 overrated votes are by far the most votes for an player the fans have considered overrated. If you watch his video there is at least one player who think he is the #1 player in the N.F.L. and a number of analysts who feel that Eli Manning is in fact still underrated.

I took to twitter to see if my follower felt Eli Manning was over-rated, under-rated or perfectly rated. Here is some of what my followers said ( @NFLmocks )

What are the Eli Manning quick facts?

Eli Manning has played in the season 8 years, with 7 years as a full time starter. He’s the definition of durability, having not missed a game since he took over in 2004 despite both a nasty shoulder injury that was supposed to sideline him 4 weeks to a maximum of about 8 weeks (2007 season–their first Superbowl win), and plantar fascitis (2009 season) among other injuries. He has won a lot of games, and the Giants have not had a losing season since 2007. Manning has passed for over 4,000 yards three years in a row, while completing 60 percent of his passes four seasons in a row. He has 185 career Touchdowns to 129 interceptions while losing 31 fumbles. Eli Manning is clearly a much better quarterback now than he was four or five years ago. Eli Manning’s also is 8 and 1 in his last 9 playoff game including two Superbowl victories and 2 Superbowl MVPs. Those are the basic facts. Breaking Manning down further. He’s always excelled in the two minute drill and in fourth quarters–this year especially when he set a record for most 4th quarter touchdown passes in a season, but as struggled more in the second half of the season than in the first (especially if you don’t count the playoffs). He’s also been a bit turnover prone and only has a career QB rating of 82.1. Giants fans would also be able to tell you that he takes too many game of delay penalties and is one of the best, if not the best, quarterback at drawing opponents offsides with his hard count.

The question for me comes down to this–is the list based on only the past season, or is it a mixture of career and the 2011 NFL season. I’ve always been a big Eli Manning supporter because of his ability to run an offense and because a lot of the little things he does well that do not show up on the stats sheet (getting rid of the football quickly to protect his offensive line, making good run/pass adjustments, throwing many of his interceptions in non-crucial situations–though he has a fair share of back-breaking INT in his career as well, and because unlike any other quarterback in the league he has played in consistently the best division in the league since 2005, he plays in a stadium that is notorious for being brutal on quarterbacks with the wind, and the Giants offense is a high risk-high reward offense that relies on a downfield passing game that hurts completion percentage and probably leads to more turnovers than less risky passing offenses) , but there is absolutely no denying that Eli Manning has not been consistent enough in his career to warrant such a high ranking.

If it is strictly on the 2012 season he should be higher. He was the most important player in the league last year on offense by season’s end. Without him the Giants don’t win the Superbowl–and he was dealt a rough hand to start the season. He had poor offensive line play all year, the worst running game in the league, and complete unknown receiving options. He was beyond terrific in the fourth quarter all-season and he took his team to an impressive Superbowl victory, the first ever 9-7 team to do so. From week 17 through the Superbowl he threw 12 TD and only 1 INT. His gritty performance in San Francisco was one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. He showed himself worthy of a top 4 quarterback consideration in the league and possibly a top 15 player.

Conclusion

I’m going to side with @SeanoDiesel It is a fair ranking for Eli Manning, but that he should be in the top 20 with even a similar performance in 2012. The issue is consistency. The Giants still were a 9-7 team last year, and even though they have not had a losing season with Eli Manning as the quarterback for the whole season, they also haven’t had enough 11 win seasons, not high enough TD to INT ratios. He’s not been Pro-bowl worthy enough, and yet an All-Pro. Eli Manning is in the prime of his career and I expect a season like 2011 again in 2012, and maybe even better, but as of today 31st might be the ideal slotting for the terrific Eli Manning.

I would not say that Eli Manning is the 31st most valuable player in the league–he’d be in the top 5-7 players, but if you make it akin to making a NFL big board across the league where positional value does not count. I think I could see where Eli Manning could be ranked the 31st best player and feel confident that it was a pretty fair ranking.

Thoughts?

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