Unstoppable

I'm not sure where I was when I saw the first Eli Manning Citizen ad, but if my life were going to be developed into a motion picture based on the true story the moment would have occurred in the great room of the Bradford Estate, summer of 2007. The fegos and I, off the heels of a heated Fifa matchup between Portugal and England, are discussing whether the tree trunk nature of Marisa Jones-Drews' thighs is properly captured in the latest iteration of the Madden franchise when Eli's boyish mug comes on the screen.

TV: "Unstoppable. Eli Manning is."

Mahktar, Dream, Sleazer, LNW: ::Uprorious Laughter::
Fegonomist: ::Sheepish Chuckle::

Underneath the chuckle lives a series of mixed emotions. Embarassment that my team's QB1 is the subject of such a textbook case of ununtentional comedy, pride that I wear the same brand of watch that Eli is now probably contractually obligated to wear, and focused determination because I know I will now have to defend the merits of a man who will probably never meet the requirements his pedigree and predraft behavior would seem to set.

We all know Eli's background. Youngest member of the Manning QB dynasty. Eli's rookie season corresponded with Peyton's greatest statistical season.

G CMP ATT PCT YDS AVG TD LNG INT RAT
16 336 497 67.6 4557 9.2 49 80 10 121.1

Eli played 9 games with a 55.4 rating that year. Of course no reasonable person would expect a rookie to immediately be as productive as one of the top 5 greatest quarterbacks of all time, no matter how close the relation, but Peyton's greatness was like that world record pace line they have on Olympic swimming telecasts. It has been in front of Eli for probably his whole life, given a 6 year head start and moving at a historically great speed.

As of the premiere of the commercial, Peyton was coming off a Superbowl MVP season. Eli had done OK his second and third seasons: 24 TDs both seasons, INTs in the high teens, completion percentage in the 50s, QB rating in the mid to upper 70s. Not exactly the performance of a Wunderkind with the right to refuse to play for the team that drafted him. He seemed to grasp the offense well and come up with some nice throws and big plays, but he would often miss high on his receivers. Accuracy is not a problem you want to have with your Franchise QB.

Peyton exhibits command over the field. He knows his playbook like his lawyers know the bylines of his endorsement contracts, and if a receiver is open, the ball will get there. It's like he's his 99 rated Madden character playing on Pro and he knows how to use all those complicated presnap adjustment controls. To expect Eli to be the next progression in QB evolution is expecting too much. Throw in the fact that Eli forced his way out of San Diego and was traded for Phillip Rivers and picks used to draft Shawn "I Took Steroids but No One Really Cares Because I Kill Skill Position Players Rather Than Baseballs for a Living" Merrimen and Nate "Always a Solid Fantasy Option" Kaeding, and you got a lot of potential Haterade to sip on. I feel like that's where the majority of fans are coming from. This includes Giants fans when Eli is having an off day, or simply if the Giants lose that week. This does not include The Fegonomist, for I believe I have the proper perspective.

My thesis is as follows: A) Yes, Eli Manning is Unstoppable...at being Eli Manning. B) Eli Manning is a Franchise Quarterback.

I define a Franchise Quaterback as a guy you can pencil in every year for 10 or so years at the position without having to worry about finding a replacement to make a serious Super Bowl run.

Of course B) is hard to disprove, given the criteria I offered, considering the events of February 3rd, 2008, but for some reason Eli's still got haters, at least within the comments of the Giants blogs I read.

I think it has more to do with A). Eli is not Peyton-evolved and never will be. He makes mistakes, gets away with throws that should be intercepted, and still isn't the most accurate quarterback. But the fact remains that he's improved every year he's been in the league except for a slight regression in 2007. And what do you know? The Giants won the Super Bowl that year.

2009 was Eli's best statistical season. He passed for over 4000 yards for the first time, rated in the 90s (93.1) for the first time, and completed 62.3% of his passes. Some of that can be attributed to the strongest core of receivers and the crappiest running game he's had in his career, but Eli was definitely not the reason the Giants fell well below expectations this year (Kenny Phillips replaced by P.P. Brown, tons of other defensive injuries, aging O-line, RBs with broken lower bodies, and Bill Sheridan are a few of the causes I would place above Eli).

In 2010 I expect more of the same from Eli. Steady leadership, improved accuracy, occasional mistakes (delay of game penalties being the most annoying of the lot), some game-saving throws, lots of audibles and pointing out of the Mike. If the Giants get someone competant to coach their defense and can limit themselves to 2 major injuries or less, I have confidence that they can return to the promised land on the above-average arm of the Unstoppable Eli Manning. I'll be saving my glass of Haterade for C.C. Brown.