With an 0-2 start to the season and many shades of 2018 showing in the team’s performances so far, it’s no surprise that a lot of the talk in the New York Giants fanbase is about when the team is going to make a switch at quarterback from Daniel Jones to Eli Manning – Jones, of course, looked good in the preseason and there will be little to lose by making a change if the team’s record continues to fall, although there is still the inherent risk of overwhelming a new quarterback with early expectations.
While the team isn’t making the move to drop Eli Manning from the starting job just yet, it doesn’t seem like such a far off possibility if the record doesn’t improve and it takes the Giants a number of weeks to get a win… With the way the team played in games one and two, an 0-3 or 0-4 start to the season doesn’t seem like a far fetched thing either, and such a start could be enough to force the staff to reconsider starting Manning.
However, Manning does have one saving grace, and that’s the fact that the situation right now for the Giants isn’t one that any quarterback would excel in.
The team moved on from its top receiver in the offseason and hasn’t had one game yet with both of the players who are meant to be this year’s top receivers active – Golden Tate is starting the season suspended for four games and Sterling Shepard missed the second game of the season with a concussion. Under these circumstances, it’s not easy for any quarterback to lead their team to wins, especially with a very different and unproven roster.
After week four, Tate will be able to come back and we’ll be able to see how the Giants offense performs with a full set of receivers, something that should have a definite impact on the passing game.
Will it turn things around completely? Probably not, but with the amount of faith the Giants have put in Eli Manning so far, it’s hard to see them dropping the quarterback over a bad start where Manning didn’t have all of his weapons.
The team wants Manning to succeed and they have shown this by not entertaining the idea before the season of a quarterback competition, and so even if the team goes into week five with an 0-4 record, it seems likely the staff will give Manning a chance to win with a full group of receivers.
If it’s beyond week five and things continue like this however, as they did in 2018? Popular pressure might just mean the quarterback spot is finally up for grabs after months of the team showing commitment to Manning.