Will this be Eli's breakthrough year?

[charleschipmunk]

Eli Manning showed a lot of progress last year over his rookie year. Late in the year, when the pressure starts to mount he had some problems. This being his third year, a lot is going to be expected of him.He needs to be himself and not try to be like Peyton. Of course the first Giants game of the year is against the Colts and Peyton, that will be his first test.

[12th man seahawks fan]

I am looking forward to watching Eli progress. I think now that he knows what the later games are like, he will be more capable. I think next year might be his year though.

[Giants/Jets Legend]

I think Eli will have a better season. He tries too hard to be at everyones expectations. Considering the variety of good tools he has he should continue to improve.

[charleschipmunk]

Eli just has to be himself and not try to do to much.

[Giants/Jets Legend]

I read this on Yahoo:

4. Is Eli Manning ready to join the league's elite quarterbacks?

A lot of that will depend on how reliable the Giants' surrounding players can be. Eli's brother, Peyton, really made his jump to star status in his third year, when his touchdowns-to-interception ratio jumped to 2.2 from 1. But what Peyton Manning was blessed with – and Eli may not be – is a pair of skill players who were dominant at their respective positions in Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison.

Clearly, Eli has one of the NFL's best running backs in Tiki Barber, who raked in a combined 2,390 yards rushing and receiving last year to go along with 11 total touchdowns. Unfortunately, Barber turned 31 this offseason, and he is getting close to that invisible wall that running backs hit in their early 30s. And Barber is certainly getting to the point where the team doesn't want him carrying the load like he did in the final six regular-season games last year, when Manning threw four touchdowns and 10 interceptions and completed over 60 percent of his passes only once. If Barber breaks down, Manning would have a tough time dealing with defenses that won't respect Brandon Jacobs or Chad Morton.

More importantly, Manning will need consistent strides from Plaxico Burress, who is still showing the same focus and attitude problems he had during his days in Pittsburgh. Amani Toomer was surprisingly effective in the red zone last season, but he has faded as a downfield threat. Much of the big-play responsibilities will fall on Burress and Jeremy Shockey. That's a significant problem when you consider neither of those players spent the offseason in New York working on routes with Manning. Marvin Harrison and Peyton Manning have probably spent more time working on timing in one offseason than Eli, Burress and Shockey have in two years.

That's not Eli's issue. He stayed in New York and worked in the offseason at the team's facility, while Shockey and Burress spent the summer at Florida working out at the University of Miami. It smacks of a deeper problem – specifically whether Burress and Shockey have bought into Manning being the team's unquestioned leader. At this point, it doesn't appear to be the case. Until they do, it'll be hard for Eli to make the jump into the league's top two or three passers.

[charleschipmunk]

Sinorice Moss should give the recievers a little more speed and hopefully be the breakaway threat the team has been missing. The team appears to have strengthened itself on defense, perhaps that will allow Eli to settle down and not think he has to put lots of points on the board.

[football junkie]

Definitely. In fact, last year was Eli's break through year, I thought. But this year he comes out of the shadow of his older brother and establishes himself as one of the premier quarterbacks in the NFL.

He has Tiki Barbar who can carry the offense on his back. Brandon Jacobs to hand the ball off to in short-yardage situations and between Plaxico Burress, Jeremy Shockey, Amani Toomer and Sinorice Moss the best receiving corp the Giants have had in a long time.

This being his third year in Coughlin's system the game should really start to "slow down" for him. And if the offensive line can man up, the Giants and Eli are going to be explosive.

[charleschipmunk]

Eli will be as good as the defense allows him to be. Last year, when the defense played well, Eli had his best games, he didn't force things. In the playoff game the defense let Carolina get ahead, and Manning pressed and struggled all game.