Eli Manning is one of the most diverse and polarizing careers in NFL history. On one hand, he has two Super Bowls, something only 12 quarterbacks have ever done. He is one of only 5 QBs who have won multiple Super Bowl MVPs, along with Tom Brady (5), Joe Montana (3), Terry Bradshaw (2), and Bart Starr (2). On the other hand, he led the league in interceptions three times, never had fewer than 10 in a full season, never won a playoff game outside of the two Super Bowl runs, and was never considered a top 3 quarterback at any point in his career. Today we are going to look into exactly how good Manning’s career was, how we should remember him, and answer the question: should Eli Manning be in the hall of fame?
I will break down Manning’s career in 3 chapters: The Up and Comer, The Brady Defeater, The Slow Decline. I have previously, for each year, ranked all the QBs and sorted them into tiers of on average the top 2 (All Pro), top 5 (Elite), top 10 (Great), top 16 (Good), top 22 (Adequate), and anything lower as (Bad/Injured/Backup). I will use these rankings to assist in breaking down each chapter in Manning’s career and hopefully gain a greater insight into how it progressed.
The Up and Comer
Eli Manning was drafted first overall and was traded to the Giants. After half a season sitting behind Kurt Warner he was given the chance to start. He took over the job and for the next 3 years was one of the hottest young QBs in the league.
| Year | Games | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 2004 | 9 | 36 | Bad/injured/backup |
| 2005 | 16 | 8 | Great |
| 2006 | 16 | 9 | Good |
| 2007 | 16 | 16 | Good |
In his first 3 years starting, he put together two good seasons and a great season, showing that he would be the Giants quarterback of the future. But after losing in the first round of the playoffs in 2005 and 2006, Eli made history the next year. In 2007, he propelled the 5th seeded Giants to the Super Bowl and beat the undefeated Patriots to claim the championship. Just like that, Eli Manning was no longer considered the up and comer, he had made it.
The Brady Defeater
With his upset of Tom Brady and the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, Eli Manning had done the impossible and set himself up to embark on the best 4 year stretch of his career.
| Year | Games | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 2008 | 16 | 11 | Great |
| 2009 | 16 | 12 | Good |
| 2010 | 16 | 13 | Good |
| 2011 | 16 | 5 | Great |
Consistently playing at a high level, Manning finished with 2 more good and great seasons. In 2011, Eli Manning had his best year of his career. Not quite finishing with an Elite season but still finishing as the fifth best quarterback that season. He then went on another miraculous run to win another Super Bowl over Tom Brady and the Patriots to officially wrap up the Brady Defeater years.
The Slow Decline
After 2011, Eli Manning seemed destined for the hall of fame. Through 7 full years he had 2 Super Bowls, 3 great seasons, 4 good seasons, and was coming off his best season of his career. Unfortunately Manning’s second Super Bowl victory did not inspire a great 4 year stretch like his first did, but instead ushered in inconsistent play with slowly declining results.
| Year | Games | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 2012 | 16 | 15 | Good |
| 2013 | 16 | 26 | Bad/injured |
| 2014 | 16 | 13 | Good |
| 2015 | 16 | 10 | Good |
| 2016 | 16 | 17 | Adequate |
| 2017 | 15 | 28 | Bad/injured |
| 2018 | 16 | 18 | Adequate |
| 2019 | 4 | 38 | Bad |
In 2013, just the second year after his second Super Bowl, Manning had 18 touchdowns and 27 interceptions and was my 26th ranked quarterback for the year. In 2014 and 2015, Eli Manning was the 13th, and 10th best quarterback respectively, putting up average statistics on a Giants team that missed the postseason in each year. The following year Eli Manning made the playoffs for the last time with the second best scoring defense and a young Odell Beckham Jr. The Giants then lost in the wild card round to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. In 2017, after a 2-9 start, Eli Manning was benched for Geno Smith, ending his run of 210 consecutive starts. It was the 3rd longest streak of all time behind only Brett Farve(297) and Philip Rivers(240). Manning did reclaim the starting job the following week but he never had another good season before retiring two years later.
Should Eli Manning get in the Hall of Fame?
The main thing defining Eli Manning’s career is consistency. Ignoring his rookie season where he filled in half way through the year for Kurt Warner. He went on an 11 year run where he was good to great in 10 of the 11 years. He was, until the end of his career, always a top half of the league starter and a good quarterback, but was limited in upside potential. For his 16 year career, Eli has 0 All Pro seasons, 0 Elite level seasons, and only 3 Great seasons.
Verdict: Eli Manning should not go into the hall of fame!
While Manning was amazingly consistent, and a true iron man for football, having the 3rd longest playing streak for quarterbacks in NFL history, I just don’t think he had quite enough top level play to get him into the hall of fame. Even though Eli Manning was constantly in the top 16 quarterbacks, he was rarely in the top 10 and never an All Pro or Elite quarterback. Now he might get in due to his famous name, but I believe that he should be left out.