Giants Starting Geno Smith

[lancerman]

37 minutes ago, jrry32 said:

Montana was traded in order to start Steve Young, not Geno Smith. Plus, he wasn't benched. He was traded. Nobody would have an issue with the Giants trading or cutting Eli AFTER the season.

And everyone's getting hung up on the "omg Geno Smith is starting and Eli is getting benched". Geno Smith is starting because somebody had to be the starter, they decided to move on from Eli, Eli declined being the starter when they offered it to him, and Geno's been second in the depth chart so he's been getting more reps so it makes more sense to have him start the game, evaluate him and then let Webb come in and evaluate him after. Especially if Eli declined starting and they aren't going to play all 3. 

For better or worse the Giants made the decision that this season doesn't matter anymore (newsflash it doesn't, it's actually detrimental for the team to even bother winning at this point), and apparently you have Mara telling scouts to evaluate college QB's so they are preparing for the end of the road for Eli so it doesn't matter anymore they might as  well see if they have some potential on the roster. 

This isn't a Bills a situation where they are debating what to do at QB but also are vying for a playoff spot so doing something like this is jepoardizing that. This is a their season is over, they don't want to win games because it actually hurts them, and they decided to move on from Eli. So it really doesn't matter. They were actually doing a nice thing giving him the chanc eto keep his streak going if he wanted to. But at this point it is all sentimentality and it doesn't really matter. 

And in a world where Montana, Favre, and Peyton Manning can get pushed out the door it's not really that big of a deal. And here's the dirty little secret, two Super Bowls or not, Eli wasn't actually that good in the grandscheme of things. Class act, came up clutch in some big moments, he's had some hot streaks, but ultimately for a guy who is talked about as a potential HOF QB, he's one of the worst to be considered at that level and certainly one of the worst to win multiple Super Bowls. And that's not me being hater, that's just how he compares to the elite company he's competing with.

[lancerman]

21 minutes ago, Tugboat said:

This is the craziest part to me.  "Hey Eli, we're gonna bench you and stuff...but you still wanna start and take a few snaps and stuff just for old time's sake?"

Like...if that's not a clear, "this season's a complete writeoff, everybody just goof off the rest of the way" signal, i don't know what is.  How seriously would you take the rest of the season with a team sending that message?  It's just a totally wacky level of, "whatever, who cares".

 

But whatever.  Nice of them to give Eli extra time off to rest up and get himself refreshed for a run with some other team next year.

Why would the Giants try to win this season? They can't make playoffs. They are better off with a high draft pick. They probably hurt themselves beating KC a few weeks ago. Yeah this season is a writeoff. They are bottom three in the league. They aren't starting Geno Smith and then playing Webb to win games. They are playing them to see what they have and to see how they want to approach the QB situation in the draft. Anybody who thinks they are "benching Eli for Geno Smith because they think he can win" is borderline delusional. It's a pure decision. Season's over, they decided to move on from Eli, they want to see what they got. They tried to be nice and let him keep his streak going until the off season where maybe he can go somewhere else and try to keep it going. 

I feel bad for Eli, it's a crappy way to go out. But realistically this was a long time coming. His play hasn't matched his accolades outside of one playoff run and one or two seasons. Maybe they could have let him play out the season, but it would have been counter productive to what their goals are now. And their goals now are to prepare for the off season and rebuild. 

[43M]

Never been a big Eli fan, but Geno Smith?  Really?  I mean, it would make more sense if it were Davis Webb  because he is a rookie QB and it would make sense they would want to know what they have in him going into 2018, but no....go with Geno Smith....a guy who has never looked like anything more than a mediocre backup QB and doesnt really have any upside left to speak of.

THIS screams full on tank mode.    Ben McAdoo may end up going down as one of the worst head coaches ever.  What a bum.  

[celestial]

1 minute ago, FourThreeMafia said:

Never been a big Eli fan, but Geno Smith?  Really?  I mean, it would make more sense if it were Davis Webb  because he is a rookie QB and it would make sense they would want to know what they have in him going into 2018, but no....go with Geno Smith....a guy who has never looked like anything more than a mediocre backup QB and doesnt really have any upside left to speak of.

THIS screams full on tank mode.    Ben McAdoo may end up going down as one of the worst head coaches ever.  What a bum.  

 

Geno Smith's QB rating over his last 5 starts is something like 90+. Geno has played well whenever given weapons. Giants' coaching staff want to see what they have. Webb is just a 3rd round project. Geno beat Webb out all season. Webb may still get snaps. If Geno is a "mediocre backup QB", McAdoo is probably fired anyway. This is his last stand.

[pwny]

19 minutes ago, lancerman said:

Geno Smith is starting because somebody had to be the starter

You keep saying this like it means anything. There isn’t some NFL rule that says you have to start a different QB if you plan on playing a rookie. They’re starting Geno because they want Geno to play.

[Tugboat]

22 minutes ago, lancerman said:

Why would the Giants try to win this season? They can't make playoffs. They are better off with a high draft pick. They probably hurt themselves beating KC a few weeks ago. Yeah this season is a writeoff. They are bottom three in the league. They aren't starting Geno Smith and then playing Webb to win games. They are playing them to see what they have and to see how they want to approach the QB situation in the draft. Anybody who thinks they are "benching Eli for Geno Smith because they think he can win" is borderline delusional. It's a pure decision. Season's over, they decided to move on from Eli, they want to see what they got. They tried to be nice and let him keep his streak going until the off season where maybe he can go somewhere else and try to keep it going. 

I feel bad for Eli, it's a crappy way to go out. But realistically this was a long time coming. His play hasn't matched his accolades outside of one playoff run and one or two seasons. Maybe they could have let him play out the season, but it would have been counter productive to what their goals are now. And their goals now are to prepare for the off season and rebuild. 

It's not about trying to "win the season".  It's about trying to at least compete, so that when you throw a guy like Davis Webb in there, you can actually see what you've got.  How are you even supposed to evaluate a rookie QB like that when you've sent out a clear signal to the rest of the team around them that nobody cares at all, and are fully willing to throw away snaps for some sentimental Eli streak because "who cares what happens now?"

It somehow manages to add a fully extra layer of meaninglessness, futility, and goof-off ****ery to the remainder of an already awful lost season.

[BayRaider]

This is the biggest tank job ive seen in pro sports in a longgggg time. If they wanted to test out a new QB, they'd start Webb. 

They know what they have with Geno and they know starting him gives a ridiculously lesser chance of winning than Eli. 

[Teen Girl Squad]

2 hours ago, Shanedorf said:

Exactly, and these guys know what they signed up for. There's little room for sentimentality in the business of sports. Eli already had his parades, now its time for the next chapter in NY - and there just ain't no easy way to do it.  Eli is done being a Giant, Geno is irrelevant in terms of making that decision.

Basically. And lets be real, Eli has been a poor QB for several seasons now. Its not like the over-reacted to one bad game or are benching a prime John Elway or something. Ownership is right to do this. Eli is done and keeping him in the game almost solely to keep a relatively meaningless streak alive kills their ability to see if they have any other QBs worth keeping on their roster. If anything they should have traded him, though that move would have arguably been more hated. To be frank, I'm surprised at how outraged everyone is. Pretty much any non-QB following Eli's trajectory would have been benched/cut long ago.

 

[bzane]

Gosh, maybe the plan is to trade Eli to Jacksonville for Blake Bortles, "The Man With The Golden Arm", right after the season. Eli gets to finish out his career with dignity, playing for Tom Coughlin on a rising young team with a loaded defense and something called a "running game" (Eli will have to adapt). Bortles's Broken Goose Wing might look awfully good flapping behind The Subway Turnstiles, the Giants' legendary O-Line!

[Kip Smithers]

 

3 hours ago, celestial said:

 

Geno Smith's QB rating over his last 5 starts is something like 90+. Geno has played well whenever given weapons. Giants' coaching staff want to see what they have. Webb is just a 3rd round project. Geno beat Webb out all season. Webb may still get snaps. If Geno is a "mediocre backup QB", McAdoo is probably fired anyway. This is his last stand.

And what weapons does he have now? 

 

[Hunter2_1]

[Kip Smithers]

Like I said, how the heck can you evaluate a rookie QB in this mess? How? You're setting him up to fail. You don't start a QB in that respect. "Here rookie, you're in now. Let's see what you're really made of". If the Giants are still hell bent on winning games, and why would they at this point, and you don't wanna throw a rookie in the fire then this is dumb as you might as well let Eli finish the season and slowly bring in the rookie. As Eli far and away still gives you the best chance to win. The more I think about it, the more I think this is just tanking because they know what Geno is really. And he isn't gonna be better than Eli at all, especially with the dump around him 

[Darbsk]

There's something about this move that bodes very badly for both the Giants and the Raiders.......... with our current state it's distinctly possible that Geno looks half decent and cons the Giants into putting their faith in him which would be a big mistake. If our defence shows up and makes him look like a poor starting QB we might have the "we've turned the corner" illusion when the reality could be far different. It'll be very hard to judge our new DC as he will have had two games he's supposed to dominate or at the very least be effective.

Obviously I hope the Raiders can take advantage of playing against a poorer QB than Eli but I certainly don't want it to paper over the cracks either  

[tom cody]

All due respect to Geno Smith but going from Eli Manning to him won't help the Giants. Got to think the draft a QB early on in 2018.

[showtime]

Sucks to see this for Eli Manning.  If they were playing Davis Webb, I think it would be a bit more understandable.  The fact that the Giants are benching Eli Manning and starting Geno Smith is just wrong.  I get you want to see what Webb can do before you draft in the top five, so then let Webb play.  Playing Geno Smith is just a waste of time and an insult of epic proportions to Eli Manning.