Is there competition brewing behind New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning?
Davis Webb has been the clear-cut No. 2 quarterback since the beginning of organized team activities. He looked good in OTAs and in training camp also. The first preseason game is where the competition may have started between Webb and rookie Kyle Lauletta.
Webb didn’t look comfortable against the Cleveland Browns. He didn’t complete a pass until his seventh attempt. He overthrew a would-be touchdown to Russell Shepard and was off the mark on most of his other passes. Webb threw the ball too hard on the underneath passes, making them difficult to catch. It was hard to find much to like about Webb’s performance: he finished with just nine completions on 22 attempts for just 70 yards.
The fourth-round pick Lauletta started out slow when he arrived in the spring, but he has made progress during the summer. He looked good in his limited action against the Browns, completed six passes in nine attempts. Lauletta only gained 48 yards but was much more efficient than Webb.
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The Giants gave Manning some rest during the week in practice. It seems like the purpose was finding out which backup quarterback is best suited for the No. 2 role. Both Webb and Lauletta have gotten reps with the first team offense during Manning’s downtime and both had their ups and downs.
These two quarterbacks have very different skillsets from each other. Webb is a big quarterback standing at 6-foot-5 with plenty of arm strength but has struggled with ball placement. Lauletta is 6-foot-2 and lacks the top shelf arm strength Webb possesses. What Lauletta has over Webb is touch and accuracy, which looked quite apparent during the first preseason game.
Both have some scrambling ability, but Webb seems to have a slight edge in that department. Neither has totally separated themselves from the other in reading coverages or decision making during practice but Lauletta seemed to be better in that department against the Browns.
– Christian Morell is a Contributor for Full Press Coverage and covers the NFL and the New York Giants. Please like and follow on Facebook and Twitter. Christian can be followed on Twitter @Cmorell72.
