Eli Manning is one of the most overlooked QBs in the NFL right now. There are a few reasons for that, the big two being that his big brother Peyton has been getting a lot of press in Denver and that Eli’s Giants had a dismal season last year. For the time being, let’s forget about both of those things.
Eli Manning is being underrated and overlooked because of those things, and that’s precisely what makes him a great fantasy play. Not many people are looking at him, but he has a great matchup scheduled for Week #1, and is in a position where he could score a lot of points at a very cheap daily fantasy football price, comparatively.
Let’s break down exactly why Manning is a good deal, and a good play despite being so cheap.
First, the Giants ran the ball more than the majority of other teams last year. They had the fourth highest number of run plays in the NFL, but did begin to shift toward passing at the end of the year. However, when it came to the two times they played the Dallas Cowboys–who they will be playing again on Sunday–they had a huge number of passes by Manning. There were 73 throws between those two games. 50 of them were completions. That’s a 68.5 percent completion rate, which is very high, especially when you consider how many passes were thrown. Manning has shown us then, that he is capable of posting huge numbers when he needs to, and he’s shown us that he’s capable of doing it against the Cowboys. The Cowboys are not quite as strong this year as they were last, which means that Manning is capable of even more.
Second, Eli Manning is not a poor player as many are arguing. He has a Super Bowl ring, he’s posted great stats in the past, and he is a hard worker and a student of the game. These things are very easy to forget when we look at last year. He finished 15th in the NFL when it came to QB Rating (92.1), and the Giants struggled to earn themselves a record of 6-10. They didn’t have much consistency with either their running or their passing, and a large portion of this can be placed upon Eli Manning’s shoulders. And, two of the Giants’ top players are not likely to play Sunday. So, why should we trust him to play well this season?
We should trust that Manning is a top performer because 2014 was an unusual season for him. He’s had enough great seasons to let us know that he’s capable of it and it’s not a fluke. It’s the bad seasons that are unusual.
Finally, consider the fact that management in New York has made some changes to help the team improve this year. Some of these are untested rookies, like Derrick Johnson, who was recently picked up from New England. Akeem Hunt and Geremy Davis are also new additions that promise to help Manning out. Also, Odell Beckham, Jr. has finally been given a chance to shine. He was a huge standout in preseason, which surprised even those that already knew he was a great WR. There is a ton of potential between him and Manning, and Beckham’s speed down the field combined with Manning’s accuracy could spell disaster for rivals that are not expecting much out of them this year.
The fantasy value is what makes Manning a great choice here. He’s probably not going to be the best performer of Week #1. But, at a low price, he is going to give owners a lot more points than others at the same price will. If you have filled up a roster with an emphasis on wide receivers and do not have a lot of cash to spend on a top QB pick like Aaron Rodgers or Andrew Luck, Eli Manning is suddenly a very attractive choice. He’s going to give you a lot of points, and there’s always that outlier game or two that he will have each season where he seems invincible stat-wise. Based upon what happened last year against the Cowboys, this is most likely to happen again during their matchup in the first game of the season.
Eli photo credit goes to.
