It has been several weeks since the New York Giants made the bold decision to pass up a potential franchise quarterback by, instead, selecting former Penn State running back Saquon Barkley.
This move has signaled the tremendous amount of belief that the franchise has that former Pro Bowl quarterback Eli Manning can not only play at a high level, but lead the team back to the playoffs. According to Jordan Ranaan of ESPN, Manning echoed that sentiment on Tuesday morning.
“Well, yeah,” Manning said Tuesday after the first mandatory minicamp practice of the spring. “Drafting a running back showed that they still think I can perform at a high level and lead this team and be a successful quarterback in this league.”
Manning is coming off a disappointing 2017 season that saw him experience a fair of amount of struggles with a notable drop in production throwing for just 3,468 yards to go along with 19 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. His porous play contributed to the Giants finishing the year only above the winless Cleveland Browns in scoring offense with 15.4 points per game.
There were some struggles along the offensive line along with numerous injuries to the wide receiver core that played a part in his struggles, but it has been a continual decline in his play on the field over the last few seasons.
The addition of Barkley could be one of the missing pieces to helping get the offense back on track with much-needed balance with possibly their first legitimate workhorse running back since the days of Tiki Barber.
This now shifts everything back onto Manning's shoulder to follow through with that regained trust from the franchise to prove that he can lead the team to success next season in order to stabilize his status in New York's long-term plans.
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