Turn on the NFL Network. Heck, turn on any sports network. The NFL training camps are about to open and everyone is talking quarterbacks. However, nobody is talking Eli Manning. It feels good to see Eli in the comfortable shadows again. That’s where Eli works—from the position of relative obscurity. Not a soul is talking Giants super bowl and that is exactly why the Giants are going to sneak up on everyone.
Let’s keep it in the qb conversation. Eli is dealing with yet another new OC and new offense. By all intents and purposes this should mean a step backwards, but I feel like it is the opposite. This new look is designed to offer more pocket protection and exploit some of those matchups he quietly exploited last year. What do I mean? Manning had the lowest ranked receiving and running back corps in the NFL last year yet still managed to have a statistically impressive line of connections to guys who for the most part are bench players or out of the league this year. He worked with junk and a terrible line and now he has some real talent around him in an offense that maximizes that talent.
Sure, this might be a fanboy talking big about his team, but the Giants improved at almost every position on offense. New line. WR are healthy. A freakish athlete of an RB. Save for Eli and a budding talent at TE we are talking about a new team here. If the camp and pre-season allow the chemistry of these talents to gel (and based on the pics coming out of everyone’s instagrams it is) then we are looking at a new look Giants offense to go with a new look Giants defense that is going to surprise people with its suddenness.