The New York Giants struggled badly during the 2017 season, finishing with a 3-13 record that garnered them the No. 2 overall pick in this year's draft. With the draft heavy on quarterbacks near the top, there was a belief for a significant portion of the offseason that the Giants would find their successor to 37-year old Eli Manning, who is obviously far closer to the end of his career than the beginning. 

But as the draft process moved along, it became clearer and clearer that the Giants were going in another direction with pick No. 2. And that's indeed how things ended up: the Giants picked Penn State running back Saquon Barkley, and didn't select a quarterback at all until they tabbed Richmond's Kyle Lauletta in the fourth round. 

On Monday, new Giants coach Pat Shurmur explained why it was that they passed on the QB early. 

"Eli's still got it." That might come as news to those that have been watching Manning for the last couple seasons, as he has been seeing his performance drop off for several years now. 

Manning's passing yardage, yards per attempt, yards per completion, passer rating, and QBR all took significant steps backward from 2015 to 2016 and then again from 2016 to 2017. The Giants improved their offensive line this offseason with the signing of Nate Solder and drafting of Will Hernandez in Round 2, and the addition of Barkley could take some pressure off Manning as well, but given that he turned 37 years old earlier this offseason, so the idea that he's going to revert to being the quarterback he was during his prime seems pretty far-fetched. The Giants seem confident that's what's going to happen, though, and that motivated them to wait on a quarterback until later than originally expected.