New York Giants: Eli Manning Grooms Young Receivers
With a relatively young receiving corps, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning plans to open up his book of tricks to help them optimize their opportunities this year.
During the New York Giants mandatory minicamp last month, quarterback Eli Manning completed an 11-on-11 pass to receiver Geremy Davis.
On the surface, the play was a success—except Manning saw something that prompted him to meet the second-year receiver on his way back to the huddle.
Manning caught up with Davis and leaned in to offer feedback, and the receiver nodded his head. Manning then gave his young teammate a pat on the back before getting ready for the next play.
The scene was typical of the 13-year NFL veteran, he of two Super Bowl MVP awards. In a telephone conversation with NFL Spin Zone following from a guest appearance at Kean University to promote Gatorade’s “Beat the Heat” program, Manning spoke about his role as a mentor to a Giants receiving corps who, other than for Dwayne Harris and Victor Cruz, has three or fewer years of experience.
“You have to be not just the quarterback,” Manning said. “(You also have to be) their friend and a bit of a coach, and make sure they’re in tune with how they’re doing things and what the best way to do things is.”
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The wisdom Manning shares actually comes in part from the experience he gained early in his career from accomplished receivers such as Amani Toomer and Plaxico Burress, just two of many veterans who helped him learn to see the NFL game through the eyes of a wide receiver.
“I learned a lot from them,” Manning said. “I’d ask them questions, like ‘Hey, Amani, how are you going to run this route? What are you going to do if it’s man-to-man? What technique are they playing on the outside? How are you going to run an inside slant against press?’”
The on-field interrogation often extended off the field after practices.
“Usually after practice I’d ask them about something I saw they did and why they did it,” Manning said, adding “I tried to really learn from those guys.”
Whatever tips he picked up back then have clearly worked. Manning set new career-highs in attempts (618), completions (387), and touchdowns (35) last season despite having a depleted receiving corps that, other than for receiver Odell Beckham Jr, was inconsistent.
The Giants’ iron man and owner of a regular-season streak consisting of 183 consecutive regular-season starts, Manning has, over the years, set just about every kind of franchise passing record.
Manning, though, has never been about himself. The only record he cares about is the number of wins the team posts each season. He’s also more interested in helping his receivers pad their stats than he is inflating his own.
“You have to be a little bit of a coach,” he said. “Not tell them that they did something wrong, but rather give them a suggestion—tell them, ‘Hey, I’m trying to get you catches, so if you want the ball, try running it this way.’
Of course, he can’t get his receivers catches if he isn’t working on improving his own game. That’s why Manning spends hours looking for ways to make better reads, throws and decisions on the field.
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This year, he has a new position coach, Frank Cignetti, Jr., who has helped him see the game from a different perspective.
“You have to be a little bit of a coach.” — QB Eli Manning
“We just really had a lot of time in the meeting room (this spring) going over our reads, going over our decisions, how we’re going to read certain plays to make sure we’re exactly on the same page,” he said.
“We make sure we’re going through the right process and going through the right process to have the best opportunity to have the rhythm in the pocket and going to the best matchups based on the coverage and the looks we’re given.
“With him being new, that we’re talking the same language out there. He thinks the same way like me, so our communication has been great so far.”
So too has the communication with the receivers, whom Manning praised after last month’s offseason program ended.
“Offensively, we have some young guys who are stepping up and starting to understand the offense, understand everything, so you get less and less mental mistakes of the young guys who are getting in there,” he said.