How many quarterbacks does it take to replace last year's starter, Kerry Collins?
At first it looked like it would take about five. They included our veteran battle scarred quarterback Kurt Warner, first-round pick Eli Manning, Ryan Van Dyke who played in NFL Europe, Jared Lorenzen a former University of Kentucky quarterback, and of course, Jesse Palmer who started a few games himself for the Giants last year.
According to Tom Coughlin, it was to be a "'best player takes the field situation". That seemed to be more than enough warning for Jared Lorenzen to decide to not even show up for training camp. Ryan Van Dyke gave it a good try and to his credit, Coughlin gave him some last preseason game NFL footage as a send off gift.

That leaves three.
That left Kurt Warner, Eli Manning and our grossly overlooked number two quarterback from last year, Jesse Palmer (more on that later). On August 29, Tom Coughlin announced that Kurt Warner would be the starting tackling dummy for the Giants opener against the sack hungry Eagles. Coughlin did this based on a preseason game against the Jets two days earlier where Warner handled himself so much better under pressure than Eli Manning. Actually seeing Kurt Warner scrambling around while being sacked two times and losing the football twice under pressure wasn't the greatest thing going.
It was, however, a stellar performance compared to rookie quarterback Eli Manning who completed only 4 of 14 passes for a meager 20 yards while giving up two interceptions. After that game we were reminiscing about how a durable Kerry Collins was able to remain calm and productive behind a poor Giants offensive line throughout 2003.

Kurt Warner.
This former two-time NFL MVP quarterback has been handed the Hollywood role here of the punch drunk boxer offered a chance at a big time comeback. In fact, Warner's record over the past two years is the equivalent of losing too many fights in a row. His last eight starts produced eight losses, including his last year's season opener against these same Giants when he racked up six sacks, six fumbles and a concussion. Supposedly Warner's got himself back in 'fighting shape' - his hand has healed, and those concussions don't trouble him any longer.
Anyway, Warner has emerged to be the starter against the Eagles. He will take the lumps for a few games while the Giants ever changing offense learns how to play together and protect a quarterback. The hope of course is that Warner can actually fill this role.
The only thing missing from this b-movie remake is that they're not putting the former champ up against a patsy for game one. No, the Giants face off against the eager Eagles, who would love nothing better than to knock Warner out of the game and then get a shot at the Giants million dollar future star quarterback Eli Manning before he's learned the ropes.

Eli Manning.
Knocking Warner out of the game would give the Eagles a chance at destroying a division rival in the very first game of the season, with the added attraction of putting memories in young Eli's head that could hold up for a lifetime playing against them. Don't worry guys. If Kurt Warner doesn't last the game we don't think Eli Manning will be placed at such risk. There is another factor to consider.

Jesse Palmer.
That's right, think Jesse Palmer, and that's not some kind of campaign slogan. On this Giants team Jesse Palmer is the only other quarterback who has experienced NFL pro grade football first hand. Jesse's even done it behind a poor offensive line, just like the one the Giants might find themselves struggling with in the early stages of 2004. If you factor in only current skills and experience and not salary, by all rights Jesse Palmer should be the number two quarterback on this team. We'll see what happens if Tom Coughlin has to quickly find a replacement for Kurt Warner.

What we'd like to see.
Kurt Warner getting rid of the ball fast to keep the heat off the offensive line.
Jeremy Shockey on the field at least as a decoy, for blocking and for a few select pass plays.
Tiki Barber and Ron Dayne both on the field together doing their 'Thunder and Lightning thing'.
Recently acquired Michael Cloud running the short yardage plays instead of Ron Dayne.
Ike Hilliard and Amani Toomer running the hell out of the inexperienced Eagles cornerbacks.
Kurt Warner getting rid of the ball really fast. (Yes we're saying it again).
Mark Jones, one of the Bucs discarded seventh-round draft picks, being an effective punt returner for the Giants.
Eli Manning taking the field in the fourth quarter because the Giants have a really big lead. (We're not expecting that to happen).

What we don't want to see.
Kurt Warner being sacked on the first play of the game (That's what happened last year to Kerry Collins in the first game of the season).
Kurt Warner scrambling around while holding the ball loosely in his hand.
The Giants secondary looking mesmerized and bedazzled while McNabb gleefully tosses pass after pass to Terrell Owens.
The Giants offensive line looking mesmerized and stampeded every time the ball is snapped.
The evil Eagles coming away with a division win.

Bet they can.
One of our staffers was in Las Vegas before the preseason, and he just couldn't resist. He bet everything he could afford on the Giants. They were giving 100 to 105 that the Giants would win more than 6 and 1/2 games. So root or pray for him to win, because he only gets our crummy crummy remunerations for the time and effort he puts in here. In fact, you might like to check out the Team Giants Store, and see some of the really unique items we put together. There's some items you certainly haven't seen elsewhere, and each sale helps out our site.

Some stats.
Kurt Warner ended preseason 28-for-38 (73.7 percent) for 303 yards. He was not under as much pressure in the final game as the offensive line improved. Eli Manning was 4-for-7 for 99 yards in the last game before leaving midway through the final quarter. Like Warner, he had no TD passes and two interceptions in preseason and overall was 24-for-49 for 327 yards.

Notes.
Tom Coughlin was 6-2 in openers as coach of the Jaguars.
Jim Fassel also opened up his Giant head coaching career vs. the Eagles. He won 31-17 back in 1997.
Eagles have 15 former first-round picks on their 53-man roster, the Giants have 7.

Next Game
Sept 19, Washington at Giants 1:00 PM - FOX.
Joe Gibbs is back in the NFC East and will bring his Redskins to Giants Stadium for an afternoon game. The rematch will be Dec. 5 in Washington.

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