Kornheiser on Eli Manning

Was Tee Martin even drafted as a QB? Shuler makes your point; Martin doesn't.

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/2000/nfldraft/news/2000/04/16/steelers_martin_ap/

 

I think you're right. It's as if Eli is criticized because he's not his brother and he's not Phil Simms. And it's not fair.

Giants' fans hated Phil Simms until the Giants surrounded him with talent. Now, he's the greatest quarterback in franchise history and absolutely beloved. Peyton is a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer and has been for some time. He's probably the best quarterback in the game and the best QB to come into the NFL since Aikman.

Eli isn't Peyton or Simms. But he's learning and getting better. Isn't that what you want in a young quarterback?

 

They should just be glad he isn't Dave Brown or Kent Graham. ;D

 

Not sure the Steelers were fooled into taking Martin with a fifth-round pick. They took a flier; it didn't work out. It's not as if they expected him to be a franchise QB, a la Shuler.

 

Actually when Manning won his '78 NFC Player of the Year, the Saints had a damn good offense.

His receivers were Ike Harris -- who was decent with the mid 70s Cardinals and rookie Wes Chandler, who would go on to greater things. Manning had one of the best tight ends in the NFL that season in the forgotten Henry Childs (53 catches, 862 yards ... good for the era). He had the underrated Tony Galbreath at fullback, who caught 74 passes and rushed for 635 yards. The halfback was Chuck Muncie, who had a good NFL career.

The Saints' line wasn't bad in '78 or '79 either. Manning was sacked only 17 times in '79.

The 1978 and 1979 versions of the Saints were the only two years in Manning's career they actually gave him something to work with ... and he was pretty damn good. The Saints were 7-9 and 8-8 in those two seasons.

The Saints' defense was sporadic at best in those years and it cost them several games, most memorably in a pair of Hail Mary losses to Atlanta in '78 which basically cost the Saints a playoff spot as the Falcons got the wild card at 9-7. Reverse those two losses and the Saints are in the playoffs.

The Saints offense wasn't that bad in '80 -- the 'Aints season -- but the defense was God awful.

Then the Saints traded Muncie and Chandler to the Chargers and that was that.

 

Come on. All I said was they thought he was a professional quarterback.

I never said "franchise." You did.

If they thought he wasn't a "professional" quarterback, they wouldn't have taken him in the fifth round.

I'm not sure why you have a problem with what I wrote.

 

I don't have a problem with it. You just lumped Shuler and Martin together implying Cutcliffe's coaching made them out to be better than they were. That was obviosuly the case with Shuler, but Martin turned out to be what scouts expected him to be: a second-day pick who didn't have the skills to be an NFL player.

 

OK ... but there's no question Cutcliffe fooled some people into thinking Martin was an NFL quarterback. The dude won a national title, completed a then-NCAA record 24 consecutive passes in one game and was always one of the best athletes on the field. I'm just sayin ... he was well-coached, and some thought he could be a solid pro.

I hate arguing with White Sox fans. I keed, I keed...

 

Fair enough.

 

Indeed.

And, getting back to the point of the thread...

 

Eli Manning is one of the better QBs in the NFL right now (easily top 10). In a couple of years, he has the potential to be behind only his bro and Brady.