At 1-6, the Giants season is in the toilet. Even those who bet on the Giants this season know it.
But as Big Blue has the bye this week, is it time to change direction and possibly look towards next season. Most notably, give rookie quarterback Davis Webb a look in the second half?
Not so according to coach Ben McAdoo. Eli Manning is his quarterback.
“It’s a coaching decision, but it’d be something that if it ever would get to that point, I’d want to have a conversation with Jerry and ownership on it,” McAdoo said. “But it’s not to that point and I don’t see that point coming. Ell’s our quarterback. I have 100 percent confidence in Eli. We’re gonna get a week away from it, and we’re gonna come back fresh mind, fresh bodies and play better football.”
Here’s the issue. Manning plays every down and never gets hurt and it’s shaping up to be a season where the Giants will get at least a top 5 pick in the draft. So wouldn’t it behoove them to see what they have in Webb before picking another quarterback in the first round.
And then there’s the Manning problem. The Giant woes are not because of Eli, but if his replacement is on the horizon, be it in the draft or Webb, then having Eli around will create an impediment. John Mara wants Manning to retire a Giant and he also has a no-trade clause if they want to trade him.
Manning, though isn’t worried about any of this and looking to keep on track.
“Well, we’ve got to keep grinding,” Manning said. “Obviously, we’ve had a tough start, lost some key players, but they’re not going to make it easy for us, no team [will]. So, we’ve got to keep finding ways to get better. I think the game plan these last couple of weeks was, try to keep the game close, get into the fourth quarter, try to make a couple big plays. We just didn’t quite hit those big plays, didn’t convert on some third-and-manageables today. But, we’ve got to get better with the guys that we got, and find a way to execute.”
This is an issue the Giants never foreseen, as they thought there were a number of viable years left for their franchise quarterback. However at 1-6 you have to evaluate and there in lies McAdoo’s dilemma. The rest of the season, he will be looking to make changes.
“We have plenty of young players in there right now working, but again, we have to go take a look at it,” McAdoo said. “That’s part of the study going in – taking a look at, you know, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a young player or veteran player, guys who are working and deserve an opportunity may get one. But, we have to take a look at that on a case-by-case basis.”
But as of right now that doesn’t include Webb or Manning.
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