At this time last year, Giants quarterback Eli Manning was coming off a poor 2013 season and ankle surgery that limited his practice involvement while the Giants were installing a new offense with first-year coordinator Ben McAdoo.
It wasn’t an ideal way to learn a new system, but things wound up working out OK once the Giants got wide receiver Odell Beckham into the lineup. Manning completed a career-high 63.1 percent of his passes and threw 30 touchdowns against 14 interceptions as McAdoo’s scheme agreed with the quarterback and the rest of the personnel.
Those results would be reason for optimism about 2015 on their own, but expectations should be even higher now that Manning says his comfort level is increasing.
“It was important having this last month -- watching the film, talking a lot about the mechanics, the footwork, being able to go outside with him and working on a lot of drill work,” Manning said, via the team’s website. “A lot of it is stuff I wasn’t able to do last year. I was coming off the ankle surgery, I had a new offense -- of lot of things going through the mind, trying to figure out concepts. This year, I understand the concepts. I’m still working on it, but I’m concentrating on the footwork and the mechanics and the timing of everything. It was great to have that this year and kind of get back to the basics of everything. I feel comfortable, I feel real good right now.”
There are still questions about the offensive line and Victor Cruz’s recovery from a torn patellar tendon, but those issues existed when the team’s offense was clicking last year so they don’t do much to quell the feeling that the Giants should move the ball well this year. Manning’s not going to be able to help the defense stop opponents from doing the same, however, and that may mean more of the same on that side of the ball and in the standings as well.
