Written by Paul Schwartz at New York Post.com
The quarterback for the Giants, for more than the past decade and for the present, is Eli Manning. The quarterback of the future, the eventual replacement for Manning, is … Geno Smith?
“I can’t see why not,’’ coach Ben McAdoo said Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings.
Whoa.
“We’re a long way to go from there,’’ McAdoo said, verbally pumping the brakes just a bit. “To me, Geno, you look at it, you study the guys coming out, you study Geno, I think he’s right in the mix of one of the better players available this year.’’
There it is. The Giants look at Smith — the reclamation project cast aside by the Jets, signed to a modest one-year contract — as possessing as much value as, or more value than, the top quarterbacks available in this year’s draft. General manager Jerry Reese and co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch have acknowledged that Manning, at 36 years old, will not last forever and that the organization has to start thinking about his successor.
There is no need, McAdoo said, to “necessarily have to go chasing that or looking for that, but if somebody’s there, you fire away, you take him.’’
Perhaps the Giants already have taken him. Smith, despite all his mental and physical scars from his four years with the Jets — he is coming off a torn ACL and will be limited in the spring — is just 26 years old.
“You take a look at Geno, he has a compact throwing motion, you like his profile, he has a quick release, gets it out of his hand, a ton of arm strength, he’s mobile, so it will be interesting,’’ McAdoo said.
“I find it very exciting. A guy who has his skill set is hard to find. You can’t find guys out there that have that type of arm talent, the quick release, the throwing motion and the feet to go with it. And he’s a competitor. It’s exciting to bring a guy in and work with a guy like that. See where you can take him.’’
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