The New York Giants have made a switch at quarterback, launching the start of one era and signalling the end of another.
The Giants officially announced Tuesday that the sixth overall pick NFL draft selection, Daniel Jones, will take over as starting quarterback this Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This means Eli Manning is now the backup and his run in the Big Apple is all but over.
Daniel Jones has been named Giants starting QB
— New York Giants (@Giants) September 17, 2019
Jones takes over for Manning after just two weeks in which the Giants have put up 31 points against the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills. Manning was 56-of-89 for 556 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions through the first two weeks of the season. The Giants offense struggled and they are already sitting in an 0-2 hole.
Injuries and suspensions had taken their toll on the Giants’ wide receiving group, as the team was without Sterling Shepard (concussion), Golden Tate (suspension) and Corey Coleman (torn ACL) heading into Week 2. But despite having Saquon Barkley and Evan Engram, Manning could only lead the Giants to 14 points against the Bills.
Now the Giants turn to their rookie quarterback and begin a new era of Giants football. Jones had a very good preseason, going 29-of-34 for 416 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions in the preseason.
In 36 games played at Duke, Jones completed 764 of 1,275 passes (59.9%) for 8,201 yards, 52 touchdowns and 29 interceptions. He also rushed for 17 touchdowns.
Eli Manning will miss just his second game (and eventually more) since the start of the 2005 season. After taking over in the middle of his rookie season in 2004 for Kurt Warner, Manning went on to start 210 consecutive games over 13 seasons before being benched for one game in 2017 by then-head coach Ben McAdoo. 2004 and 2017 are the only seasons in which Manning did not play all 16 games.
Manning led the Giants to wins in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI, both against the New England Patriots and currently owns the second-longest consecutive starts streak by a quarterback, but will eventually be taken over by Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers in just a couple of weeks.
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