For years, the narrative has been that Eli Manning was dragging down his New York Giants teammates and not the other way around. However, in the aftermath of Manning’s benching, it’s been quickly established that was not the case at all.
Out in Cleveland, Odell Beckham Jr. is having his worst season to date, which is a common theme for wide receivers who went from Manning to another quarterback. But that’s hardly where these revelations begin or end.
The Giants offense has seen a sharp decline since Daniel Jones took over under center, and in no way is that a knock on a rookie so much as stating the reality of the situation. Perhaps more specifically, we’ve seen Saquon Barkley’s production go into a nosedive.
Yes, part of that has to do with Barkley sustaining a high ankle sprain earlier in the season. Another part of that has been the horrendous run blocking up front, while the suspect play calling and poor use of the running back’s talents also factor in.
But you know what else factors in? No Eli Manning.
Manning took relentless heat for his willingness to check down in recent years, but that worked to Barkley’s benefit in 2018 and over the first two games this season. With Jones now under center, there’s been a sharp shift for the Giants offensively as the rookie is more prone to look down the field, essentially eliminating Barkley from the passing game.
“It’s safe to say Daniel’s got his eyes downfield a little bit more,” head coach Pat Shurmur said, via the New York Post. “That maybe has something to do with it.”
With Jones looking down field much more, Barkley has just 46 targets on the season and 13 of those came when Manning was still starting quarterback. That’s a drastic decrease from the 121 targets he had a season ago.
“Where do you win in that situation?” Barkley said. “When Eli was our quarterback and I was getting the ball too much, everyone would say, ‘He throws check-downs too much.’ So now that we’re not throwing check-downs, ‘Oh he’s looking down the field too much?’ Me personally, I don’t ever want to get in his way. Daniel Jones is a great player and a great quarterback and going to be an even player as time goes on. He’s going to be one of the best in the league, I believe. That’s gonna come to him.
“Check-downs are always a safety-valve for a quarterback, but be you. In college we used to say they dig the deep ball. Be you, go out there and play your game. I’m going to be there if you need me to be there.”
Barkley may be modest, but there’s no denying he’s the Giants’ best offensive player and after being taken second overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, should be getting many more opportunities than he is, injury be damned. If the team isn’t going to shut him down, they need to use him — and what better way to use him than out of the backfield matched up against much slower linebackers?
Daniel Jones plays a different style of football than Eli Manning, but that shouldn’t result in Barkley becoming an afterthought. It’s on both Shurmur and Jones to devise a way to get the most talented player on the field the ball more. Period.
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