Most Indispensable #1: Eli Manning
No surprise here.
Like most NFL teams, the Giants are in serious trouble if they lose their quarterback. While I do believe that the defense is good enough to carry the team for a few games, there is no way the Giants can win the division without Eli Manning. That is something I would not say about any other player on the team.
David Carr looked better than solid in his limited playing time backing up Manning in 2008, going 9 for 12 with 115 yards and 2 touchdowns. This small a sample size does not mean much, but it is not crazy to think that Carr can perform well, being that he was a former #1 overall pick with a strong arm who has never played behind an adequate offensive line. If Manning were to miss a handful of games, the Giants could do worse than to have Carr pick up the slack.
But if Eli is gone for an extended period of time, the Giants will severely miss his improved passing ability and his leadership. For the first time in his career, Manning’s completion percentage was over 60 % (60.3) and his QB rating was over 80 (86.4). He had more than twice as many touchdowns (21) as interceptions (10).
He has had his ups and downs, but in the 2007 season’s playoffs and the 2008 season, Giants fans finally saw Manning turn into the type of franchise quarterback that Ernie Accorsi traded up to draft in 2004. Although he sometimes struggles with his accuracy, he has still developed into a top ten QB in the NFL. QB is probably the most important position in any sport, and losing a starting QB can be the difference between making the Super Bowl and missing the playoffs entirely (see 2008 New England Patriots).
