Why Benching Eli Makes Sense

Since it was announced that Geno Smith will start over Eli Manning this week for the Giants, fans, players, and pundits alike have all complained and lamented over the move. Here is why all of those fans, players, and “experts” are wrong:

Right now, the Giants are in the midst of a lost season and are already out of the playoff race many Giants fans hoped they would be in at this point. Therefore, the rest of the Giant’s season only serves the purpose of evaluating players and tanking to get the best possible draft pick (take a lesson from the legend of Sam Hinkie, it’s the right move).

Why the fuck would they leave Eli in there? Let’s say they leave Eli Manning in and he either tears an ACL or breaks his god damn clavicle or something in a meaningless game that they were trying to lose anyway. Sick. Now instead of a guy who you can trade for some valuable picks or a player you like next year, you have an absolutely worthless injured and old quarterback no one wants. Was it really worth it to leave him in?

Another argument circulating around is that the Giants should leave Eli in simply because he is better than Geno. That is one of the dumbest football arguments I have heard all year. The Giants goal should be to lose every game from here on out so they can get the best possible draft pick they can. Why on earth would they put in the guy that gives them the best chance to win? Instead, they should start their fucking kicker at QB and call pass plays till the Giants break the record for the most interceptions thrown in a game.

Additionally, Geno might actually be the better quarterback for this team right now considering their offensive line struggles and considering Geno’s mobility. With an offensive line this bad, a conventional offensive system reliant on pocket passing cannot work because there is no fucking pocket to begin with. In this situation, the Giants need a quarterback who has enough mobility to occasionally escape trouble and mask the offensive line’s deficiencies as often as they can. Forty times are not everything, but just to put in perspective the difference between Eli and Geno’s respective mobility Eli ran a 4.9 (at the combine so he probably runs a 5-something now) while Geno ran 4.5.

Finally, it honestly makes sense that the Giants would truly want to evaluate Geno Smith. Coming out of college, some experts and scouts said that Geno could be a top 10 pick. Many saw him as the best quarterback in his draft class in 2013. He had all of the physical tools GMs look for in franchise quarterbacks. He ended up falling to the second round, but he still would have been the first quarterback taken had the Bills not shocked everyone by taking E.J. Manuel at #16 overall.

The point here is that only 3-4 years ago some scouts and experts viewed Geno Smith as a top 10 talent, and the only chance he ever got to be evaluated at the NFL level was with a shit Jets team and with a shit coaching staff. So maybe, just maybe, it is worth giving Smith another chance with a different organization after he has had some NFL experience, in order to evaluate him once and for all. Although, I see this turning out just like his Jets tenure considering the Giants right now are also a shit team with a shit coaching staff. But hey, it’s still a better call then starting Eli Manning in meaningless season.