NFL Grades: Report card for each QB after four games
By Erik Lambert
Eli Manning (New York Giants): D
The New York Giants had a tough choice to make entering the 2018 NFL Draft, find their quarterback of the future or continue to build around 37-year-old franchise legend Eli Manning. They opted to give Manning support in the run game with Saquon Barkley, who many consider to be a generational talent. Four weeks into the season New York is 1-3 and Manning can’t stay upright thanks to an offensive line that continues to implode.
He also missed this critical play, highlighted by NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger.
.@giants running a “McAdoo 2.0” offense. Another week of this and this team is going to have an implosion. #BaldyBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/Im8Z78IZHr
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) October 2, 2018
Through four weeks Manning has just four passing touchdowns and finally inched over the 1,000-yard mark. He’s been sacked 15 times, the fourth-most in football, and has fumbled three times.
While the prospects of having Barkley for the next decade still are fantastic, the Giants might have missed a golden opportunity to set their franchise forward with a rookie quarterback who could actually sit and learn behind Manning.
On the flip side, Manning is completing passes at the highest rate in his career, currently sitting at 74.2%, the second-highest in the NFL behind Drew Brees. Some of that is thanks to Barkley, who is second on the team in receptions with 27, most of which are coming on second-and-10 plays.
The reality is that Manning is past his prime and the offensive line won’t allow him to perform to even average standards. Sadly, we’ve reached the tail end of a career that will be debated for years as to whether it’s Canton-worthy. He’s well beyond Joe Montana, Warren Moon, and John Elway on the all-time passing list, and he’s seventh all-time on the touchdown list, though there’s little wiggle room with Aaron Rodgers, Phillip Rivers, and Ben Roethlisberger bracketing him.