Giants quarterback Eli Manning is coming off the worst full season of his career and he’s seen major upheaval on the offensive staff for the first time in many years, but he’s still the key to making the offense go.
That was the word from new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo in a conference call on Thursday. McAdoo talked about West Coast principles, wanting to be tough and smart and other things that gave a vague sense of what the offense will look like without Kevin Gilbride holding the reins, but the end result is going to have everything to do with Manning.
“As Eli gets his hands on it and has a chance to get comfortable with it, we’ll make tweaks here and there,” McAdoo said, via Dave Hutchinson of the Newark Star-Ledger. “Really, as the offseason and training camp goes on, every offensive system tailors towards the strength of the starting quarterback. What he does well and what he doesn’t do well. At the end of the day, your system is built around the personnel, not the other way around.”
There are big question marks for the Giants at every other spot on the offense this offseason and their answers will give some idea about where the offense is headed with McAdoo at the helm. Any direction they go, though, McAdoo knows that they’ll only travel as far as Manning takes them.