Eli Manning : 2004 Draft Day Picks

Summary: Eli Manning was born on January 3, 1981 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the brother of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, and the son of former NFL player Archie Manning. With bloodlines like this it is no wonder that Manning is one of the best quarterbacks in the game today. Since an early age he has been around the game of football, and this is evident by the way that he plays the game on the field. After a successful high school career Manning took his gam...

Eli Manning was born on January 3, 1981 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the brother of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, and the son of former NFL player Archie Manning. With bloodlines like this it is no wonder that Manning is one of the best quarterbacks in the game today. Since an early age he has been around the game of football, and this is evident by the way that he plays the game on the field. After a successful high school career Manning took his game to the University of Mississippi. During his college career Manning put up impressive numbers, to say the least. He finished his career with 10,119 passing yards, 81 touchdown passes, and a quarterback rating of over 137. While at Mississippi Manning tied or broke 47 season, single game, and career records. It is safe to say that Manning is probably the best quarterback that has ever come out of the University of Mississippi. Going into the 2004 NFL Draft Manning was thought to be the number one prospect. But before Manning was ever drafted he was surrounded by controversy. The San Diego Chargers held the first pick in the draft, but Manning made it perfectly clear that he did not want to play for them. Despite this, the Chargers drafted Manning anyway. With the fourth pick the New York Giants selected Philip Rivers, and the two teams eventually swapped quarterbacks. During his rookie season Manning started about half of the team's games and despite performing poorly received some much needed on field experience. In 2005, Manning led the Giants to the NFC East Championship, and a spot in the playoffs. Despite a solid regular season he struggled in a loss to the Carolina Panthers to cap off his second season. During the 2006 Manning once again started off strong, but sputtered down the stretch. He ended the season with 3,244 yards and 24 touchdowns. But again he struggled with his accuracy only completing 57 percent of his passes, and throwing 18 interceptions. There is no doubt in anybody's mind that Manning's game is going to continue to progress.