After 15 years in the starting lineup, the Eli Manning era has finally come to an end in New York.
The Giants announced on Tuesday that rookie quarterback Daniel Jones will replace Manning in the starting lineup heading into Week 3 of the NFL season. The Giants have started the season 0-2 with Manning under center this year. Manning has completed 56 of his 89 pass attempts for 556 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions but the team has struggled to score points in two games.
New York shocked many when they selected Jones with the sixth overall selection in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Duke. Following an impressive preseason showing, Jones has initially shown that the NFL game isn’t too big for him.
Following the decision to bench Manning, Giants head coach Pat Shurmur released the following statement.
“Eli and I spoke this morning. 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.”
“Ultimately, this is a move that I felt was best for this team at this time. 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.”
Manning led New York to world championships in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI, had a consecutive start streak of 210 games (2nd best in NFL history) and holds several team passing records including passing attempts (8,061), passing completions (4,860), passing yards (56,537) and passing touchdowns (362).
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
