E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he is one of only three sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls. Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

TWO OF THE CRACK MEDIA GROUPS RANK ELI 40TH AND 42ND
AMONG ALL STARTING QUARTERBACKS IN THE NFL

By Dave Klein
You can tell that these are the dark days before the draft, that the free agency quality candidates have dwindled to a precious few and that all the head coaching vacancies have been filled.

Why else would a reputable outfit like CBS Sports waste hundreds of words accusing unnamed Giants' front office types of fearing that quarterback Eli Manning is in decline?

The source for this fodder is from Pro Football Focus and Football Outsider, and CBS Sports is merely repeating statistics developed by those fine organizations.

For instance, it is reported that Eli is ranked 42nd of 45 NFL quarterbacks by Football Outsiders, ahead of only Terrell Pryor, Geno Smith and Brandon Weeden.

Football Focus is similarly offensive, suggesting that Eli is 40th of 42 NFL quarterbacks.--only ahead of Geno Smith and Chad Henne.

Talk about having nothing to write and too much time necessary to spend at the keyboard. Is Eli one of the Top Five quarterbacks in the NFL? No, not any more. Top 10? Probably not. But 40th and 42nd? Not likely.

For instance, this puts him below such as … you can do the list, too. It's just not right.

Eli had 27 interceptions last season, but how many of them were the result of receivers running incorrect patterns on timing routes or simply passes not caught but deflected into the air for the eager hands of defensive backs?

It has come to our attention that Football Focus has been rated 38th of 40 similar services, and that Football Outsiders earned a rating of 44th out of 47. Both came in ahead of “Jerry Jones' Pro Football Strategy” and “How to Win a Super Bowl” by the management of the Philadelphia Eagles.

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In interesting question was posed by E-GIANTS subscriber Joel G., one that makes you think.

Q – Who was the last quarterback drafted by the Giants to win a game for them?

A – Nope, it wasn't Phil Simms and it wasn't Eli Manning. For the deeper thinkers, sorry, it wasn't Dave Brown, either.

IT WAS KENT GRAHAM, AND HOW ‘BOUT THEM APPLES?

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It has been reported, speaking of quarterbacks that Josh Freeman and Matt Flynn will work out for the Giants Tuesday. There is no truth to the report that the team doctors are hoping for a pulse from one or both of them.

Clearly, this pair isn't top of the line quality or they wouldn't be hanging around without a contract for so long. But are they more valuable than, say, the Giants' pair of backups, Curtis Painter and Ryan Nassib?

Hard to tell, since Freeman and Flynn each have starting experience in the NFL. Nassib didn't even get to take a snap as a rookie last year, and Painter has spent his career backing up a Manning – Peyton in Indianapolis, Eli with the Giants.

Freeman was a highly-regarded quarterback at Kansas State and drafted 17th overall by Tampa Bay in the first round in 2009. Flynn was the polar opposite, picked in the seventh round by Green Bay a year earlier.

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Is it hard to believe that the Giants' secondary underwent a 50 percent changeover between Super Bowl 42 and 46? Believe it, The SB 42 secondary was comprised of cornerbacks Corey Webster and Aaron Ross while the safeties were Gibril Wilson and Jack Butler. Just four years later, the safeties were Kenny Phillips and Antrel Rolle.

And today only Rolle remains on the team.

Among the other starters in both games were quarterback Eli Manning, tackles David Diehl and Kareem McKenzie, defensive end Justin Tuck and guard Chris Snee.

Now Diehl, McKenzie and Tuck are gone.

Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS where you can subscribe to his newsletters which run much more frequently than what is available here.
- Team Giants

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