Mailbag: Questions about Eli Manning, Ben McAdoo at forefront

The Eli Manning benching is, of course, still the thing on the minds of most New York Giants. So, let’s open of the Big Blue View mailbag and see if we can answer some questions about that.

Ed says: Paul, if you think “no one” has thought about that or written about it I’m not sure you’ve been paying attention. The possibility of that has been talked about for a long time. Isn’t that, in fact, what Davis Webb has been doing? Problem is, we don’t know for sure who the future is. We don’t know who will be making that decision. After the organization stripped him of a consecutive start streak he was — justifiably — incredibly proud of, whether Manning will have any desire to stick around is a good question. My belief is the only way there is even a chance Manning remains with the Giants next season is with a new coach, and maybe even a new general manager.

Steve Alessandri asks:

What do you make of the fact that outside of a few exceptions the current players didn't show much support for Eli after his benching? Does this say more about a void of quality guys in the locker room or is it a bit of an indictment of Eli being too passive of a leader in recent years? Clearly past players felt a connection with him but I wonder why it seems the current guys don't. I know they don't want to slam the coach or team for the decision but it seems they could have still come out and shown support without rocking the boat.

Ed says: There are a couple of layers to that. First of all, players on the current team were in a bad spot here. They answered the question when asked, and Justin Pugh was particularly thoughtful. As a current player, though, it is kind of tough to say too much. You’re a worker, you have to play with the new QB and continue to deal with the coach. It’s a little unrealistic to expect them to go to social media, or anywhere, and express outrage. That’s for his former teammates who are now out of the game.

There is also this — many of these players don’t really appreciate or know who Eli Manning is. The only players on the current roster who won Super Bowl titles with Manning are Jason Pierre-Paul (2011) and Zak DeOssie (2007, 2011). Most of these guys haven’t won with Manning, or been part of it when he did the things that made him a franchise legend.

Finally, it’s surprising how many athletes don’t really know, understand or care about the history of the sport they play. There are probably guys in the room who don’t even really know what Manning has accomplished in the game.

Ed says: No. What’s done is done, and the Giants are too far down this road. Smith has practiced as the No. 1 quarterback all week, the game plan is built around what they hope he can do well, and that’s just how it’s going to be. John Mara’s chance to stop this was when Manning said he would rather not play than start and come out. He chose to let it play out. So, this is happening.

Ed says: I don’t really know. I have studied the candidate pools some, but I don’t “know” these people. That said, in my mind there are a few things I would want if I was making the choice. For GM, I would go outside the organization. Not Marc Ross or Kevin Abrams, who work under Jerry Reese. Go outside, start over, get fresh perspective. For a coach, I want someone who has a broader background than McAdoo had when he was given the job. He had spent almost all of his NFL career working for Mike McCarthy, so he only knows one system and one way. His two years with Tom Coughlin were his only ones as a play-caller. I don’t necessarily want a guy who has been a head coach before, but I do want someone who has worked in a variety of places and systems, and who has been exposed to a number of different quality coaches.

Ed says: We don’t know for sure that Manning would have waived the no-trade clause. I can’t, however, disagree with the notion that the organization should have had a conversation with him about it.

The Giants fell to 0-5 on Oct. 8. The season was over at that point, if not before. The NFL trade deadline was Oct. 31. That would have given the Giants three weeks to find a suitable trade partner — if Manning were willing to go along with that.

I still can’t believe that John Mara did not have a conversation with Manning until after his benching had been announced.

E-mail bigblueview@gmail.com if you have questions for future mailbags.