Giants' Damon Harrison explains one way Eli Manning is similar to LeBron James

Eli Manning is many things. He's the quarterback of the New York Giants. He's a two-time Super Bowl champion. He's a two-time Super Bowl MVP. He's a certified kingslayer given his history against Tom Brady and the Patriots. And he might just be the LeBron James of the NFL. 

On Monday, during an appearance on NFL Network's "Good Morning Football," Giants defensive lineman Damon Harrison explained how Manning and James are similar.

"Eli, when you look at Eli, it's kind of like when you look at LeBron [James]," Harrison said, via NFL.com. "I'm not saying they're the same, but look at Eli's numbers. If any other quarterback would have those numbers it would be an amazing year. But it being Eli, no one is respecting it much like we do LeBron. LeBron could average 30 [points], 15 rebounds and 12 assists and it's like 'he didn't do enough.'"

There's no doubt that Manning and James have a few things in common. For one, they're both the most important players on their teams. They've both won multiple championships, though James has one more than Manning. And they both pulled off the greatest upsets of all time when Manning helped beat the undefeated Patriots and James helped overcome a 3-1 Finals deficit against the 73-9 Warriors.

But Manning's recent numbers do not represent amazing years. In the past four seasons, Manning has completed 61.7 percent of his passes, averaged 7.0 yards per attempt, racked up 109 touchdowns and 71 interceptions, and generated an 85.7 passer rating. Last season, Manning completed 63 percent of his passes, averaged 6.7 yards per attempt, threw 26 touchdowns and 16 interceptions, and posted an 86.0 passer rating. 

Those are by no means bad numbers, but they're not amazing numbers like Harrison suggested. If any other quarterback posted those numbers -- like Joe Flacco -- we'd likely call it a decent year and show concern over his yards per attempt. It's not like Manning was an MVP candidate (like James) who got out-shined by other individuals' freakishly crazy seasons (like Russell Westbrook and James Harden). Manning was fine, like he has been for most of his entire career. 

If there's one quarterback who should be compared to James, it's probably Aaron Rodgers, who was an afterthought in the MVP race despite throwing 40 touchdowns and seven interceptions. At this point, we've kinda taken Rodgers for granted.