Bottom line on Eli Manning is that he deserves the HOF by virtue he's a 2-time SB
Most Valuable Player. There's only five (5) players with multiple SB MVPs - all happen to be QBs:
Brady (4)
Montana (3)
Starr (2)
Bradshaw (2)
E. Manning (2)
Starr, Bradshaw, Montana are all in the HOF and we know Brady is a shoo-in if he ever decides to retire. Lol. That leaves Manning -- do you really think they would leave out a
2-time MVP when all the others were selected?
The rest of your points I simply disagree with. Of course it's a "team sport" but it's more about the QB than you think. It's a high-profile position and usually the face of the franchise. That's why so many are taken with the #1 OA pick. That's why so many of these high-draft picks are given big rookie contracts with ridiculous signing bonuses and haven't even played a down of football yet. You're looking at another QB taken #1 in this year's draft in Joe Burrow presumably to Cincinnati. That would make QBs in the last 3 drafts taken as
thee #1 OA -- crazy! And in
eight (8) out of the last eleven (11) drafts, QBs were taken with the #1 OA picks including in 3 of those 8, QBs were taken in the
top 2 picks: 2016 (Goff/Wentz), 2015 (Winston/Mariota), 2012 (Luck/RG3) -- again crazy!
I'm not saying that QBs are the only position of importance and that the other 21 players mean nothing. I'm saying the right QB (talent, intelligence, leadership qualities, etc.) is most important for offensive success. Teams revolve around the
franchise QB more so now in this era than ever before.
When you say owners dump top drafted QBs for "PR" moves -- that's ridiculous. As I mentioned, Arizona dumps "Chosen Rosen" after just one season when they had signed him to a 4-yr/17 million dollar contract and a
11 million dollar signing bonus. What a PR move - throwing away big $$$ on what was supposed to be their franchise QB. Lol.
Rosen started virtually his entire rookie season. Bradford (another #1 OA pick) was the starter and got injured in the 3rd game. So, Rosen started the following week for a total of 13 games. He was 3-10 and the team ended up at 3-13 which pissed off ownership because this was the worst team record in franchise history. So, Wilks is booted and Rosen is basically
given away to Miami (traded for a late 2nd rd pick & 2020 5th rd pick. Lol).
When people say it's not about
wins with QBs, it is clearly in this situation throwing out a 1st rd, high-draft pick QB that you
trade up to get after just one season for reasons other than non-football related matters. I've never heard of anything like this before. Even Paxton Lynch, as terrible as he was, got 2 yrs at Denver! (and is now sitting on Pittsburgh's practice squad). The Cardinals spent almost $33 mil on 3 QBs in 2018 - Bradford, Rosen, Glennon - who are no longer on the roster! So...was this all done for "PR" moves? (Man, they better hope they hit it big in the next few years with the Kingsbury & Murray show or the fans should start questioning the sanity of that organization).
And
team records are exactly what many owners use to assess QBs (what's that old saying: NFL =
Not For Long). And sometimes it's even more than regular season records and a single playoff appearance - but going to the Super Bowl is the benchmark. A few examples:
Recall Keenum at Minn in 2017. The starter Bradford gets hurt after just two games. Keenum starts week #3 and finishes the season. He goes 11-3 and the team finishes an amazing 13-3 with a division title. Keenum's stats are pretty good that season and he's named
51st best out of the top 100 NFL players for that year. They beat NO in the first round and play in the championship game one step from the SB, which is to be played at their brand new palace. Keenum plays poorly and the team gets hammered by the Eagles 38-7. Keenum, a free agent, is not re-signed and is let go. The owner wants the guy at the Skins and pays a fortune to get him. Most owners would have been thrilled doing cartwheels that their team made it to the conference championship and would have kept Keenum, at least for another year.
You bring up KC & Mahomes. Remember Alex Smith? In his six (6) seasons at KC, they were all
winning seasons with 2 divisional titles and all but one playoff appearance. And Smith had some pretty solid stats in some of those 6 winning seasons. But Smith was 1-4 in those playoffs games and couldn't get the team to at least the conference championship game. Obviously, ownership was a tad bit ticked because they didn't fire Reid, but instead
traded the house away to get the Gunslinger, who incidentally took the team to the conference championship in his first full season as a starter, and now the SB in only his second year! (And probably more than likely playing with a less than 100% knee - dislocated patellas can have potential to be serious). So, if Smith was the guy why didn't the Chiefs just built the defense better for him and provide more weapons? After all, he's virtually taking them to the playoffs every year - why not stick with him and improve the other areas of the team that you think are so important? Or could it be that a talent like Mahomes only comes around every 15-20 years and KC knew he could be a game changer. His cannon of an arm, his mobility, his intelligence and his leadership qualities (at such a young age) make him an exceptional QB. With that cannon, he can spread out defenses like crazy and cause panic with DBs. With his mobility, he can roll out the pocket and run away from sacks, he make throws that no other QB can make in this league and his leadership qualities is getting the respect of his teammates. He reminds of a young John Elway, and barring injuries, I think this kid will be something else for years to come.
How about Flacco? A SB winning
MVP QB who goes 8-8 in 2016 and 9-7 in 2017 with no playoffs. In fact, his stats in 2016 were phenomenal with some
career highs. But Raven's ownership was obviously not happy with the team's 17-15 record over back to back seasons and no playoffs, so instead of firing JH or blaming something else, they blame Flacco and go draft LJ in the 1st rd. Flacco gets hurt halfway during the following season going 4-5 before the injury - insert LJ who goes 6-1 and to the playoffs. So long Flacco and LJ is the new franchise QB exceeding expectations beyond belief this year with a 13-2 personal record and 14-2 team record. Though they were upset in the 1st round, Baltimore looks like geniuses drafting him in the last pick of the 1st round when no else seemed interested. And this is a pure
dual-threat QB that they're essentially letting him run his RPO offense that he ran at Louisville! If it wasn't about wins, then why not build up the defense for Flacco? (bring back Ray Lewis out of retirement. Lol). How about more offensive weapons for Flacco? Hire a new OC. Why run out of town a SB winning MVP QB and face of the franchise when you could just build up the team around him?
And even Manning couldn't escape the not enough
wins dilemma. The two-time SB winning MVP QB goes 3-13 in 2017 & 5-11 in 2018 with phenomenal stats in 2017 (after a 11-5 season in 2016 and a 1st rd playoff loss). Nonetheless ownership selects Jones with the 6th OA pick in 2019 sending a
clear message it's time to move on. And the Giants waste no time inserting Jones at the helm by the 3rd game this season. Even Mahomes had to sit the bench his rookie season (started only the last game after the division was locked up). Why not give Manning more offensive weapons to work with? This is a two-time SB winning MVP here and future HOF. This is a Manning. He's only 38 with no signficant injury history (Brady's only 42. Lol). The obvious reason was that he wasn't winning anymore - not enough "WINS" and ownership had enough. The Manning era is over and barring injury, Jones is expected to lead the Giants back to the SB glory years (however, their lousy season this year cost Shurmur his job).
And look at the mess at Jacksonville this year: The owner opens his checkbook and signs Foles to a four-year, $88 million contract and $50.1 million in guaranteed money (this after dumping Bortels who in 2018 signed a 3 year, $54 million contract extension to stay with the Jags through the 2020 season!). Another SB winning MVP QB who is supposed to be the answer to all of Jacksonville's problems. Foles gets hurt in week#1 - insert Minshew who goes an impressive 4-5 for a 6th rd pick rookie drafted solely for a backup role. Foles is cleared to play getting his starting job back, but goes 0-3 and is benched for the rest of the season in favor of Minshew. And Minshew now has the inside track to be the permanent starter next year. So, going into the 2020 season you have a 6th rd pick rookie making $2.7 million/4-yrs starting and the 17th highest paid QB sitting the bench making him probably the highest paid backup in the history of the NFL. Lol.
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As Lombardi once said "winning isn't everything -
it's the only thing." And the QB is a huge part of that equation. Just watch all the fun and games this season when by mid-season a lot of QB changes will start occurring all because those teams aren't
winning.