Giants quarterback Eli Manning has posted completion percentages of at least 60 percent in the last four seasons and peaked with a career-high rate of 63.1 percent during the 2014 season.
Manning’s coach would like to see him shatter that mark this year. Giants coach Pat Shurmur believes that his offense will provide Manning with the chance to connect on passes at a higher rate than ever before.
“I think he can,” Shurmur said, via Steve Serby of the New York Post. “I think it’s important that you get him in the high 60s, bordering on 70.”
That’s a big jump, but Shurmur’s coming off a year with Case Keenum’s completion rate jump nearly seven percentage points so it wouldn’t be an unprecedented development for a quarterback in his system. With Odell Beckham, Sterling Shepard, Evan Engram and Saquon Barkley on hand, there should be targets as long as a rehabbed offensive line gives Manning the time to find them.
That question is one that won’t be fully answered until the start of the regular season, but an answer close to Shurmur’s wishes should put the Giants in position to rebound this season.