Eli not ready to join Peyton just yet

By Connor Byrne  |   Thursday, June 08, 2006  |  Comments( 2 )

New York Giants
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Ever since Eli Manning entered the NFL as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 draft, many have been comparing him to his older brother and former top pick, the Indianapolis Colts' Peyton Manning. However, comparing Eli to his older brother simply isn't fair, as it puts ridiculous amounts of pressure on the younger Manning.

The fact is, Eli, the Giants' starter, made major strides last season, heaving 24 touchdown passes en route to a playoff year for New York. He slumped in the second half of the regular season and into the postseason, though, leaving many frustrated with him. In defense of Eli, people are expecting far too much of him at this young stage of his career. After all, he's only 25 years old. Peyton, on the other hand, is 30, and has had far more experience than his little brother.

Now that Manning is entering his third year in New York and has 26 starts under his belt, many are anticipating him joining Peyton next season when it comes to performance. However, in his first two seasons the Colts' Manning started all 32 games, which means he was thrown into the proverbial fire immediately. The Giants' Manning was brought along slower, as he sat for the opening half of his rookie season behind veteran Kurt Warner, who is now with the Arizona Cardinals.

In '04, Giants head coach Tom Coughlin decided to install the first-year Manning at a time when New York was 5-4 on the season. Thus, in order to jump-start Eli's development, Coughlin derailed what was a playoff contending team. That decision caused a great deal of controversy in New York, since it came when the team was a surprise contender. Much of the Giants' faithful held out hope that their new quarterback would come in on a white horse and lead the team to an incredible playoff run, but it didn't happen. That season Manning led the New York Giants to a 1-7 record, with a paltry 55.4 quarterback rating.

In today's league most executives, scouts and coaches believe that a quarterback needs at least 30 starts to truly understand the nuances of the pros. Manning's four starts short of that, so he should become an elite quarterback fairly soon. He'll likely continue with some frustrating mistakes early on next season, then finally begin to comprehend how to beat opposing defenses in the NFL. When he finally does figure it out, it'll mean bad things for the rest of the NFC.

By the time Peyton Manning reached his third season, he was an elite player, which is simply an anomaly for quarterbacks these days. In his junior season in the pros, he flung 33 touchdowns and helped lead the Colts to the postseason. The 30-year-old has reached eight Pro Bowls in his career, and has constantly had Indianapolis among the best teams in the league. Although he hasn't won a Super Bowl yet, with his talent, he'll more than likely accomplish the feat someday.

If Eli ever wants to be mentioned in the same breath as his famous older brother, he'll have to improve his completion percentage greatly. In his first two seasons, Manning's accuracy has been his biggest problem. For his young career, Eli has a completion percentage of just 51.6. Last season, he found his target just 52.8 percent of the time. Meanwhile, other than his rookie season when he completed over 56 percent of his passes, Peyton has been in the 60s every other year. Obviously, that's a testament to his talent and field vision. Seeing the field better is something Eli will need to improve upon; he has plenty of talent.

When the brothers Manning match up in Week One of the regular season in three months, expect the older of the duo to come out on top. Eli will perform valiantly, but he's not on-par with Peyton yet. The time will come; it just isn't here yet. Be patient, Giants fans. Patience is never an exercise for New York sports fans, but now's the time to make an exception.

--Connor J. Byrne can be reached at cbyrne@realfootball365.com

Get more on Eli Manning at Realfootball365.com
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