Quarterback situation is no joke

by Ed Valentine on Sep 13, 2007 12:11 AM EDT in News Comment 5 comments

No cheerleader this week, since the Packers haven't had them since the late 1980s. Instead, I torture you with the man who may be your quarterback on Sunday ... Jared Lorenzen.

ELI SUCKS!!!

Eli is a sissy! He's afraid of the pass rush!

Eli will never be any good, he's too quiet and 'ole sourpuss Manning takes lousy pictures, too!

The Giants have the wrong Manning! Maybe Archie can still pass the ball straight, because Eli can't!

Eli is a bum! And Ernie Accorsi is an idiot! The Giants should have just drafted Ben Roethlisberger!

It seems like ever since Eli Manning got to New York it has been fashionable to rip him. Over the years I've done some of that myself. Everybody's got an Eli put-down, or a reason why he will just never measure up to the family name.

It seems, in fact, that the only thing more fun than picking on Eli the past couple of seasons has been making fun of his backup, the 285-pound Jared Lorenzen.

He's the man of many nicknames.

The Hefty Lefty; Battleship Lorenzen; J-Load; The Pillsbury Throwboy; The Portly Pine-Rider. There are probably a dozen other ones I can't think of right now.

Only, the funny thing is, nobody is laughing about the Giants quarterback situation right now. That's because with Eli's shoulder hurting Lorenzen ... might ... actually ... have ... to ... PLAY!

And that is no joke.

With one career completion and 278 fewer career passing yards than pounds, Lorenzen might suddenly be in the spotlight.

Can he handle it? Who knows? Do Giants fans want to find out? Maybe not.

Again, the funny thing is, coming off one of the best games of his career Sunday, Eli suddenly looks a lot better.

To illustrate, let's highlight a couple of comments from folks right here at Big Blue View.

From 'DieEaglesDie.'

Eli is the franchise ... lorenzen is a circus freak.

From 'mwilli.'

Eli with half a shoulder makes me more comfortable than Lorenzen starting.

I've heard calls all week for the Giants to try and find a better backup quarterback than Lorenzen. What about Byron Leftwich? Maybe Big Blue can pry Chris Simms away from Tampa Bay. Kerry Collins is available.

Maybe, just maybe, this scare with Manning has made Giants fans understand just how important Eli is to this team.

He is the franchise, and will be for the next 5-10 years. It isn't really going to matter who the backup quarterback is, Lorenzen or anyone else.

If this team is going to become a big-time Super Bowl contender Eli will have to take them there -- not Lorenzen or anyone else.

If Eli can't get it done, Big Blue is in for a long period of mediocrity.

Maybe this Sunday we begin to find out that 'ole sourpuss Manning is a lot tougher than many have given him credit for. Maybe this Sunday he goes out and faces the Packers at less than 100 percent, showing leadership by simply being there.

Maybe this Sunday turns into a really important one in finding out what the next few seasons hold for the Giants.

Or, maybe we just get to watch Lorenzen see if he can throw for enough yards to say his career passing yardage exceeds his weight.

We'll find out in a few days.

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Comments

Hefty....

I hate to harp on it but it is Coughlin's fault that our backup QB threw his first game pass last week. Couglin had plenty of opportunities in the last two years to slip Hefty in for some desperately needed game time experience.

As it turned out the game was already lost when Eli went out, but what if we had only needed one score? This is just horrible coaching, plain and simple.

All things considered Hefty didn't do such a bad job, except for not fighting hard enough to get the first down on his last play. I think he mistakenly thought he already had made it.

I'm a closet fan of Lorenzen but if he wants to be taken seriously as an NFL quarterback he needs to get in better shape. The only other QB I can remember being ridiculed this much about his weight was Sonny Jergenson and his big paunch, and that was close to the end of his career.

by giant fan since 57 on Sep 13, 2007 6:39 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

i admit

last year when eli and the team was floundering i was hating on eli and calling for the hefty lefty. but this new season and eli's preformance (granted its one game) has gotten me fired up, maybe too much. with so much offseason, off the field drama i was tired of being punch line to so many NFL jokes, and with eli finally finding his ballsack this offseason i was ready to turn things around. then the injuries piled up and it became the fat QB comedy hour all over the place. i'm a little calmer now and am not expecting disaster whoever starts. if everyone plays hard and the secondary figures out how to cover, this NFC is wide open. so anyway, these next two and a half days can go by fast enough.

by DieEaglesDie on Sep 13, 2007 9:42 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

huh?

It's Coughlin's fault that Lorenzen hasn't played? What game do you want to point to where he should have gotten snaps and actually had to throw the ball? That's really an unfair comment, plus, name a team that actually give their backup QB's time (that is, teams that have a legit starter). Don't give me teams that can't decide on a starter. He has played extensively in the preseason the last two years, he's capable. We're not asking him to win the game, most backups can't, just play in control.

www.billkohut.com

by bk0831 on Sep 13, 2007 1:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

re:huh?

Agreed, he's played well in the preseasons, and he looked ok in that one series he played (other then that bonehead slide). The guy was a four year starter in college and holds practically all the SEC passing records. The only real knock I've heard about him is he has a little slow release, but still has a cannon. Hopefully, we'll do what the Vikings did a couple years ago when Dante when down. Just have the back up throw the ball as far as he can for Plex. Despite being 3 bills, he still looked pretty quick for a fat guy.

by queler on Sep 13, 2007 2:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

bk0831

Yes, it's Couglin's fault. He could have played Hefty for most of the Seahawks game when we were getting pasted. The fact that not many backups are playing is irrelevent. many of today's backups are veterans like Garcia who don't need game snaps.

Any team that has a backup who hasn't played much (including the Colts) is crazy if they don't get the guy in the game even for just a few plays. If your starter is well into the red zone and has his bell rung and the backup has had zero opportunities to play, there isn't much chance of scoring.

by giant fan since 57 on Sep 13, 2007 7:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs