Eli Benched

The Giants announced that Eli Manning would be benched for the rest of the season.  They actually gave him the option of starting games to keep the streak alive and he turned it down.  The Giants are getting ripped for this decision from all corners: former players, former coaches and every talking head on TV.  I appreciate loyalty as much as the next guy but it’s the wrong approach.  Eli Manning has been a great Giant.  He’s been a great player and a great guy.  However, the organization needs to prepare for the future.  This year is over.  The Giants will wind up with a top 3 pick and likely have the opportunity to draft Sam Darnold, or Josh Rosen or Baker Mayfield.  They need to figure out whether they have their quarterback of the future in Davis Webb.  This is about Davis Webb, not about Geno Smith.  Once they have Smith here they can go through the box checking exercise of giving him a game or two to see if he has anything, but this is about Webb and this is about next year. 
 
At some point Manning was going to be playing his last game.  It was always going to be a sad day.  Don’t confuse loyalty and appreciation for Manning (who ironically I always assumed I appreciated more than most until the internet exploded on this benching), with the need to start working on 2018. Their PR guys could’ve handled it better and discussed more about Webb than Smith, but this is 100% the correct move.  Manning is absolutely not what went wrong with this season.  Almost no quarterback could produce with this line and the current array of weapons available. It will actually also make it difficult to evaluate Webb under similar circumstances. Manning is without a doubt past his prime at 37.  He potentially has a productive year or two left, but the Giants can no longer fool themselves into believing that they are competitors for a Super bowl; or will be soon.  They need to plan for the future.  Even better if they can get something for Manning in a trade this off season.

If it turns out that Webb has a future, the Giants will be in a position to trade their draft pick for a number of picks. If he doesn’t prove anything they can draft a quarterback and start the rebuild process around the new quarterback.

 -Ari Glass