As we continue our series of New York Giants position-by-position breakdowns, it is time to talk about quarterback.
The Giants have problems to address in several areas as they begin planning for 2010. Quarterback is not one of them.
Eli Manning is the best player the Giants have. And he is now in the prime of his career.
Eli will never be Peyton. He will never be what former GM Ernie Accorsi promised when he traded for him back in 2004 -- the second coming of Johnny Unitas. That, by the way, is Peyton.
What he will be, as I have said before, is the best quarterback in franchise history. He is an upper echelon NFL quarterback right now playing the best football of his career.
If you disagree, I have no idea what you have been watching. And I know there is no way I will ever convince you.
Eli set several career bests in 2009.
- His first career 4,000-yard (4,021) passing season.
- A 62.2 percent completion percentage.
- A 93.1 quarterback rating.
- An average of 251.3 passing yards per game.
- Twenty-seven touchdown passes.
When it comes to quarterback for the New York Giants, I have no doubt Eli Manning is up to the job. What I really think we need to talk about it is who will, or should, be the backup in 2010.
David Carr has been a perfectly acceptable backup for the Giants for the past two seasons. He played well in his limited opportunities in 2009. Carr, though, is a free agent and you would have to think he might go looking for a place where he might be given an opportunity to compete for a starting job. To be honest, I don't know if there is such a place right now. I have doubts, though, that Carr will be back.
The question is then, do we trust the untried Rhett Bomar to be the No. 2 quarterback? I loved what I saw from Bomar is limited snaps during the 2009 training camp. He has a big arm and a nice presence, but the fact that he beat out Andre Woodson for the practice squad slot does not mean he can be an NFL quarterback.
I hope he can. In fact, I think he can. And I think that the Giants would like to give him every opportunity to earn that job. After all, General Manager Jerry Reese spent draft picks two years in a row trying to find a player to groom as backup quarterback. If Carr leaves, though, you would have to think the Giants will find a veteran quarterback somewhere to bring in and compete with Bomar.
Keep: Manning, Bomar
Dump: Carr
Draft/Free Agency Priority: 5 (though if Carr leaves the Giants will need a veteran to compete with Bomar)
(E-mail Ed at bigblueview@gmail.com)