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Eli Manning Talks Giants Progress, Daniel Jones, and How Offense Survives if Mike Kafka Leaves

Eli Manning is part of a brand new "pregrain" campaign for Quaker Oats. He recently spoke about that campaign and a few things Giants-related.

Eli Manning might be retired these days, but like so many in the media and among the fan base, he keeps up with the happenings of the New York Giants, his former team.

And having experienced the same kind of growing pains when he came to New York as current quarterback Daniel Jones, who better than Manning to tap into his experiences with things such as what constitutes progress for the team, the natural progression of a quarterback, and what happens if the Giants lose offensive coordinator Mike Kafka to a head coaching job.

Manning spoke about that and more as part of a media tour to promote Quaker Oats' "Pregrain" campaign, a special contest in which the winner can secure two tickets to next year's Super Bowl.  

The following are some snippets of what Manning had to say; you can watch the entire interview done for the LockedOn Giants podcast.

Eli Manning might be retired these days, but like so many in the media and among the fan base, he keeps up with the happenings of the New York Giants, his former team.

And having experienced the same kind of growing pains when he came to New York as current quarterback Daniel Jones, who better than Manning to tap into his experiences with things such as what constitutes progress for the team, the natural progression of a quarterback, and what happens if the Giants lose offensive coordinator Mike Kafka to a head coaching job.

Manning spoke about that and more as part of a media tour to promote Quaker Oats' "Pregrain" campaign, a special contest in which the winner can secure two tickets to next year's Super Bowl.

The following are some snippets of what Manning had to say; you can watch the entire interview done for the LockedOn Giants podcast.

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Assuming Daniel returns, he'll be in Year 2 of the same system. How much easier do you think that will make things for him?

It'll be a lot easier for him. I think he can make it his own offense in the off-season. He can get with his receivers, he can run the plays, he can coach up guys if new guys come in in the off-season ... like it's your offense. He couldn't do that last year because he had to come and learn it. So the more time you're in an offense, the quarterback's gonna get more comfortable.

And it's not always knowing where to go with the ball or the reads; it's just knowing, 'Hey, I got a bad play here. Where's my check-down?' Like, how to get the ball out. How to have better production on first and second down when things aren't there, where you can get three or four yards. Daniel does a great job running the football, so I think he'll continue to learn and get better, and hopefully, he can be in this offense and be a New York Giant for a long time.

What do you think is the logical next step for Daniel in his progression?

Just continue to grow within this offense and continue to find ways to be productive. I think they did a great job in play-action, moving the pocket, and having him on some quarterback reads where he could run the ball. And he did all those things very well. I think he played maybe his best game of the entire season in the playoff game at Minnesota. So that's great to see a quarterback who can step up big in the playoffs and play well.

I think they can probably just grow in the shotgun in the passing game part. And, you know, get comfortable with what Daniel does well. Some of that is adding some pieces around him and some players that can win some one-on-one matchups. I thought the receivers did a lot of good things, but I think there's room to improve.

If current offensive coordinator Mike Kafka were to leave for a head coaching job, how big would that be for the offense and the quarterback?

It just depends on who, if that happens, gets promoted or if they go out and sign a new offensive coordinator. Brian Daboll is very involved in the offense, but it can change things up and on how it works with who's in the quarterback room, who's in Daniel's ear, who's doing all those things.

Obviously, teams deal with this all the time and don't break stride and still find ways to be successful when guys get promoted or coordinators, you know, make it to head coaches. I'm sure they'll have a good plan no matter what happens.

How would you define progress for Year 2 of the Daboll era outside of the wins and losses?

I think this team did a great job of winning some tight games, making those comebacks where they were maybe down at the start of the fourth quarter and could overcome that and play their best football at the end of games. And so you want that as a team.

They kinda lost that a little bit in the middle of the season but then found it again towards the end and had some nice wins versus the Colts and the Vikings in the playoff game. So I think it's just maybe finding ways to get off the better starts and not having to wait to see what the defense is doing and then react, but maybe kind of set the pace of the game and, and find ways to be more productive early on.

General manager Joe Schoen spoke about wanting to close the gap between Philly and Dallas. Where do you see as being the biggest gaps they need to close?

I think just playing complete team complimentary games. You saw that the Dallas defense was dominant all year. Offensively, they have playmakers that are in the Pro Bowl, and they run the ball well. Philadelphia, you've seen through the playoffs, their defense has been playing outstanding. They run the ball well. And those two things complement each other. They can control the clock, shorten the game, and wear down teams.

So I think with the Giants, just putting all that together, and hey, if the defense can get you turnovers, on offense, you gotta capitalize, and you gotta be able to score. You gotta be able to run the clock out on games.

You gotta be able to play a lot of different ways depending on how teams are playing. Do you have a system to beat it? Whether they're playing soft, they're making you run, and they're loading up the box--can you throw? Can you win outside? Can you win over the middle? You have to have all things working through, and all the right players at the right positions to attack however teams are playing.

Last we spoke, you were working with Quaker Oats and being coached pretty hard by a young lady. Now Quaker Oats has a new campaign, "pre-grain." What can you tell us about it?

Yeah, so excited to partner with Quaker on this. It's really to invite fans to share how they "pregrain" before the big game for a chance to attend next year's Super Bowl in Las Vegas. To enter the contest and go to TikTok and follow Quaker.

And between today and February 12, which is Super Bowl Sunday, they have to upload their own "pregrain" video of how they're using Quaker Oats and use the caption #QuakerPregrain #Entry hashtags. Be creative, be fun, and the lucky winner will go to Las Vegas for Super Bowl 58 next year.

How do you pregrain?

Every morning for the last 12 years, it's been my Quaker Oats and some blueberries, blackberries, raspberries--it's kind of a combination depending on whatever we have. And that gets me, gets me started every morning. 


Quaker Oats is sponsoring a promotion in which they're inviting fans to share how they “pregrain” before the Big Game for a chance to attend next year’s Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas. To enter the Quaker “Pregrain” Contest, follow @Quaker on TikTok and submit your own “pregrain” video sharing how they pregrain with Quaker Oats and a caption using hashtag #QuakerPregrain #Entry by February 12, 2023.