Eli Manning is no longer the starting quarterback for the New York Giants. On Tuesday morning, the team announced they are benching the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback for Daniel Jones, a player the team drafted in the first round this past spring. This is not a big surprise considering head coach Pat Shurmur opened the door for a quarterback change after the Giants’ 28-14 loss against the Buffalo Bills.
“Eli and I spoke this morning,” Shurmur said Tuesday in a statement via NFL.com. “I told him that we are making a change and going with Daniel as the starter. I also talked to Daniel. Eli was obviously disappointed, as you would expect, but he said he would be what he has always been, a good teammate, and continue to prepare to help this team win games. Daniel understands the challenge at hand, and he will be ready to play on Sunday.”
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The Giants have lost their first two games of the year largely because of the issues they have on offense. They have scored only 31 points and Manning is coming off a game where he completed only 57 percent of his passes and he threw two interceptions.
“Ultimately, this is a move that I felt was best for this team at this time,” Shurmur said. “I have said it since I got here, I am very fond of Eli. His work ethic, his preparation, his football intelligence. All those attributes are as good as I have ever seen in a player. And Eli worked as hard as you could ask of anybody to get ready for this season. This move is more about Daniel moving forward than about Eli.”
The Giants drafting Jones was a surprising decision considering he didn’t have an impressive college career. But the Duke alum had an impressive preseason, completing 85.3 percent of his 34 passes for 416 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions.
It looks like Jones is the future for the Giants. And even though things haven’t gone well for Manning lately, but he’s put together a great career. Along with winning two Super Bowls, Manning has been the Pro Bowl four times, thrown for 56,537 yards and 362 touchdowns. Manning’s passing yards rank seventh in NFL history and his touchdowns rank eighth. The Ole Miss alum also is the active all-time leader in interceptions with 241.
