Week 4 QB projections   •  NYG Stats

QB Eli Manning, New York Giants

HT: 6-4, WT: 218, Born: 1-3-1981, College: Mississippi, Drafted: Round 1, Pick 1

2011 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of September 6th. [Full ADP list]

Overall: J Stewart (81), J Graham (82), Eli Manning (83), R Bush (84),
Position: J Freeman (75-QB11), M Stafford (79-QB12), Eli Manning (83 - QB13), S Bradford (90-QB14), J Flacco (96-QB15)
Click here for a comparison of these players.

PPR Average draft position

Current as of September 6th. [Full PPR ADP list]

Overall: S Smith (87), A Green (88), Eli Manning (89), B Jacobs (90), S Bradford (91)
Position: M Stafford (80-QB11), J Freeman (81-QB12), Eli Manning (89 - QB13), S Bradford (91-QB14), J Flacco (105-QB15)
Click here for a comparison of these players.

 Click here to go to the Eli Manning spotlight, our staff's most detailed analysis.

Best Case

Eli Manning has more than justified the Giants decision to trade for him after the Chargers selected him 1st overall. While not a Hall of Fame caliber player like his brother, Eli is a talented and productive field general with a combination experience, arm strength and fearlessness. Last season was, in many ways, his career best. Manning set career highs in completions (339), attempts (539), completion rate (62.9%), and TD passes (31). With a strong receiving corps, a productive ground game to keep defenses honest, and continuity in his coaches and system, there are few reasons to expect Manning to fall off in 2011.

Worst Case

Manning not only set career highs in the aforementioned categories, but unfortunately also set a career worst with 25 interceptions. That's the second time in four seasons Manning has led the league in picks. Sometimes Manning falls prey to poor mechanics when he gets pressured, and can make ill advised throws in tight spaces, trusting his arm too much.

Outlook

Manning never gets credit from fantasy owners, perhaps because he's rarely been truly elite. Yet, in the last six years he's never finished worse than 13th, and has back to back Top 10 seasons rolling (with 4,000+ yards passing in each). Unless your league penalizes turnovers more than traditional leagues, Manning is rock solid as either a mid round quarterback-by-committee pick, or as an exceptionally strong QB2 and occasional starter.

Relevant Articles

Why he is overvalued

Sigmund Bloom - I can understand taking a top seven QB. I can understand taking a QB on the rise like Matt Ryan or Josh Freeman. I can understand waiting and going with youngsters like Matthew Stafford and Sam Bradford. What I can't understand is taking Manning at his 7th round ADP. Sure, he will finish with good season-end numbers because he never misses games and he'll have some 3+ touchdown outbursts. Good luck predicting when he will give you those games. The Giants still want to run more than they pass and Manning will be an unpredictable commodity at QB.

Mike Brown - He's got the name, and he's got the matching ring. But Eli Manning is not, and probably never will be, an elite NFL quarterback. He puts up big stats from time to time, but his decision-making has actually regressed in a lot of ways in recent seasons. His receiving corps took a hit with the losses of TE Kevin Boss and WR Steve Smith, and the Giants made no significant additions to help him out. Now add in the fact that 12% of his games this season are going to come against the team that just added Nnamdi, and you can see why he'll have a tough time improving much on his overall totals.

Jeff Pasquino - The Giants lost Steve Smith to free agency and Kevin Boss is gone, leaving only Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham as the top targets for Eli Manning. New York has both Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw as a 1-2 punch in the backfield, so expect the Giants to try and run the ball at least as much and possibly more that last year. Manning will struggle without a possession receiver (Smith) and a viable tight end this year to balance out the passing game. Defenses will key on Nicks and take their chances with Manningham in single coverage. That Makes Manning no more that a fantasy QB2 with modest upside.

Latest News

Giants | Kurt Warner says Eli Manning can achieve more (Wed Feb 8, 08:25 AM) - Former NFL QB Kurt Warner said during a radio interview that New York Giants QB Eli Manning is not a Hall of Famer at this point in his career despite his two Super Bowl titles.

Our View: Manning didn't even lead his team to the playoffs in 2009 and 2010, so consistency is one of those needed elements to bolster his Hall of Fame case.
link to story   

Giants | Tom Coughlin says Eli Manning in elite class (Tue Feb 7, 10:26 AM) - New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin said there should be no debate now as to whether QB Eli Manning ranks among the league's elite quarterbacks. 'I thought, again, that this business about elite quarterbacks, I think that question's come and gone,' Coughlin said. 'I don't think we'll hear much about that again. He epitomizes everything that I believe in as a player. (That's) In terms of the quality, the way he produces, the way he handles it among his teammates, on and off the field.'

link to story   

Colts | Eli Manning says Peyton Manning ready (Tue Feb 7, 09:11 AM) - Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning (neck) is 'good to go' as far as returning for the 2012 season, according to his brother, New York Giants QB Eli Manning. 'Everything's good to go,' Manning said during an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. 'He got a good report from his doctor, said, 'Hey, you know, if you were my own son, I'd give you the okay to play,' and so he'll be ready. He's healthy, now it's just about getting to 100 percent where he can physically make all the throws.'

link to story   

Giants | Eli Manning excelled at short passes in Super Bowl (Mon Feb 6, 05:06 PM) - New York Giants QB Eli Manning went 28-for-32 on passes 15 yards or less in Super Bowl XLVI.

link to story   

Giants | Brandon Jacobs defends Eli Manning (Mon Feb 6, 10:17 AM) - New York Giants RB Brandon Jacobs said QB Eli Manning is the best overall quarterback in the NFL today. 'Now (Eli) has two titles,' Jacobs said. 'Drew Brees is a pretty good quarterback and he's at home. Aaron Rodgers is a pretty good quarterback and he's at home. Tom Brady is a good quarterback ... And Eli beat him twice. Ask Tom Brady if that means (something).'

Our View: Manning certainly moved to an upper tier QB this year. His calm demeanor carries over to his play and he made several clutch throws in the Super Bowl from the pocket.
link to story   

More News

2011 Schedule

2011 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Eli Manning had a very shaky season opener and blame can spread throughout the entire team for the poor performance versus Washington. Manning was let down by an inability to convert third downs and the New York defense giving up long drives to Washington. His WR Cruz dropped a key third down pass that could have kept an early drive alive. Manning evaded pressure nicely in the first quarter to find a wide open Nicks deep down the field and later capped off the drive with an easy bootleg rushing touchdown to the corner of the endzone. Manning and the rest of his team was wildly inconsistent however. Manning missed a wide open Nicks on a post and some mis communication with WR Manningham led to a lot of first half incompletions. Nicks is clearly Mannings go to reciever and picked up a lot of first downs for the team. Whatever good Manning had accomplished in the game was somewhat undone however, when a tipped pass at the line turned into a simple walk in pick 6 for Washington. He also executed a perfect "drop in the bucket" throw deep down to TE Ballard on a seam route but they later failed to convert on 4th and 1. Manning and the whole Giant offense suffered from a lack of sustained offense, time of possesion and badly timed penalties. The Giant offensive line also turned several defenders loose on Manning at the line and he struggled to get the ball away numerous times.

Week 2 - Eli Manning had somewhat of a bounce back game but still was far from perfect and relied a lot on other parts of his team to get the win. Manning started off well with a nice ball on a rollout to his WR but followed this up shortly with a silly turnover. Manning tried to hit a wide open Manningham deep but failed to see the Rams safety roll over late and it was easily intercepted. Manning later showed great trust in WR Nicks as he threw the back shoulder fade pattern in inside the 5 yard line. Nicks had to adjust to catch a somewhat inaccurate but this gave Manning some confidence. He picked his game up and found Mario Manningham deep on a simple go route. Manning led his WR perfectly in stride which should have been a touchdown but his WR almost dropped the pass and had to fall to the ground to double catch it. Manning got his touchdown anyway however as he threw a great strike down the seam to slot WR Hixon. The pass was perfectly over the head of the defender, WR Hixon almost dropped this too however but was lucky and able to hold on for the touchdown. Manning began to combat the Rams blitzes with hot routes and quick throws which worked well. He enjoyed much better pass protection in the second half and had the benefit of a good running game to work with. Manning always plays better with good pass protection and panics often when this is not there.

Week 3 - Eli Manning played a very efficient and smart game on Sunday and was helped out by some incredible individual performances from his team. It may be forgotten early in the game that he overthrew a wide open Victor Cruz deep for an easy touchdown as Cruz broke free from the secondary. Manning made up for it as he did a great job recognising his RB Jacobs had huge separation from LB Matthews on a wheel route and floated it perfectly for the first touchdown. Minutes later Manning hit WR Cruz on a simple curl pattern on the outside which Cruz was able to turn into a huge catch and run for a touchdown after some abysmal tackle attempts from Eagle defenders which included CB Nnamdi Asomugha. Manning was smart, never made a big mistake and was decisive. He did take a lot of sacks and a few hits from the vaunted Eagle pass rush however. Manning and FB Hynoski were unable to connect on a deep wheel similar to Jacobs' touchdown but was slightly underthrown. WR Cruz made another terrific play for QB Manning when he outleaped 2 defenders on the goal line for Manning's third touchdown of the game. The offensive gameplan for NYG was terrific as they attacked the weaknesses of this defense which was the secondary(especially LB's and Safeties) and forcing them to make a lot of tackles. They took advantage of PHI's aggressiveness again as Manning set up a perfect screen for RB Bradshaw and led to his 4th touchdown of the game.

Week 4 - Eli Manning has had back to back big games both in fantasy and in real life. He has found a groove with Nicks and has developed nice chemistry so far with Cruz in the slot. Manning really is one of the most relaxed and calm pocket passers in the NFL if not the calmest. Manning does not roll out of the pocket at the first sign of pressure or get rid of the ball too early. Manning hung in the pocket time after time as he always does, his only movement mostly being to step up in the pocket and fire down the field. He trusts his protection and was able to find Nicks time and time again for big first downs in the first half of the game. Cruz has also become a reliable target in the slot and he gets him involved a lot. Manningham has become somewhat forgotten as he is a big plat receiver and the two have had trouble connecting since his concussion two weeks ago. A momentary lapse of concentration occurred when C Baas got injured and the snap between his replacement caused a fumble which set up an easy ARI score. Manning was able to find Ballard in the endzone for a terrific touchdown catch and fired a bomb down the sideline to a wide open Nicks to seal the game for his second touchdown. Manning did not throw an interception and remained a pocket passer for the game with great success.