Montana, Marino, Brady, Rodgers…Manning, all names of Elite QBs, but which Manning am I referring to? Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts or his younger brother, Eli Manning of the New York Giants? Both brothers are record-breaking quarterbacks that have mastered their skills at the position. But one brother is undoubtedly elite, while the other is just a tad short of being deemed “elite”. The word “elite” is a noun that can be defined as a group of individuals that are considered the best or “the cream of the crop”.
Having good stats is just one component to being an elite quarterback. An elite quarterback wins games, has impressive stats, is clutch and most importantly, is consistent. Eli Manning possesses most of these qualities yet he is still not considered to be amongst the elite. This does not mean he cannot be. He’s most definitely on his path to joining his brother and being an elite QB.
My opinion, Eli started on his journey to becoming elite when he helped his team defeat the undefeated New England Patriots in Superbowl 42. In that game, Manning showcased his abilities to lead his team to victory, especially one of the Superbowl’s most memorable passes to Plaxico Burress, which resulted in a TD with 35 seconds left in the game.
Proving that Eli is not only able to lead his team to the promise land, but he is also clutch when it counts. His talents in that game helped him win MVP, adding another accomplishment that the future elite QB would have.
Good statistics are not the only thing you need to be a successful quarterback but they do provide factual evidence behind being elite. An elite quarterback does not just have the most yards and touchdowns but they have impressive completion percentages, QB ratings, and good yards per attempt.
Eli Manning’s stats brings that factual evidence with a career completion percentage of 58.4% (close to his brother Peyton who has 64.9%), 7.03 yards per attempt and a QB rating of 82.1 for his career. Manning’s stats for the 2011 season were also impressive gaining 4,933 yards, 29 touchdowns and a completion percentage of 61%. With stats like this, it’s no wonder Eli is on his road to becoming elite.
Throughout this season Eli, also proved his consistency as a quarterback. This season Manning went into every game and showed his talents. There was not a game this season where, he pulled a Tony “Oh-No” choking and costing his team the game. This season the Giants entered the playoffs being the number 1 team in the NFC East then breezed their way through the playoffs and winning the NFC after defeating the San Francisco 49ers. Now Eli must go up against the infamous Tom Brady, who also has impressive career stats (39,979 yards, 63.8% completion percentage, 300 TDs).
As you can see his stats are close, and if Tom Brady is considered elite and Eli beats him then he deserves the title of being elite as well. Eli will complete his resume with impressive stats, consistency and the ability to be clutch with multiple Superbowl rings, and potentially an additional MVP award. But he cannot be elite until he gets this second ring and remains consistent. So is Eli elite? A question that shall be answered on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis for Superbowl XLVI.
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- A’nae Johnson, Contributor