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Giants co-owner won’t anoint Davis Webb as Eli Manning’s successor

Davis Webb

The New York Giants selected Davis Webb in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft, but co-owner John Mara isn’t ready to say he’s Eli Manning’s successor just yet.

During an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show Tuesday, Mara made it clear that, while the team would welcome that outcome, that kind of talk isn’t appropriate.

“I think it’s a little too premature to be anointing this guy as the heir apparent to Eli,” Mara said, per Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “(Webb) hasn’t set foot on the field yet. But he has a lot of talent and we’re looking forward to seeing what we’ve got when he gets here. But let’s not, as Bill Parcells used to say, let’s not get his bust ready for Canton just yet.”

The Giants want to give Webb a chance to develop without putting that kind of pressure on the young man.

“But no, listen, he’s a talented guy but let’s let him get on the field and let’s let him play in the preseason and develop,” Mara said. “If he’s the successor, that’s great, but if not, then we’ll find somebody else.”

This is quite honestly the right take.

It’s also a luxury. The Giants, unlike many teams, have been blessed to feature a starting quarterback who hasn’t missed a game since his rookie season. Manning has won two Super Bowls and has been as durable as anyone in the league, so the Giants have no reason to put any undo pressure on a rookie quarterback.

This isn’t the case for other franchises like the Chicago Bears, Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns, who haven’t had a franchise passer in what seems like forever (and quite literally is forever in the case of Houston). While they’re doing their best not to put pressure on their rookies — Mitch Trubisky, Deshaun Watson and DeShone Kizer — there will always be an undercurrent that threatens to drag these young men into the abyss.

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