Eli Manning is not a future Hall of Famer by any standard

Some people say Eli Manning should be elected to the Hall of Fame, but the only way he should get in is if he buys a ticket.

As Eli Manning’s career winds down, with the New York Giants maybe possibly finally looking to replace him, there is a lot of talk that he should go into the Hall of Fame someday. Maybe he will, but he certainly doesn’t deserve to.

In terms of Pro Bowls and All-Pros, Manning is well below what you’d expect for a Hall of Fame player. He has never been a First-Team All-Pro and has only made the Pro Bowl four times. For comparison, Alex Smith and Andy Dalton have three Pro Bowl selections each.

Manning has, of course, never won MVP. He hasn’t even received MVP votes. He has won two Super Bowls, though, which is one of the few reasons anybody would even seriously consider him for the Hall of Fame.

Manning has also never lead the league in any major statistical category except interceptions. That’s not leading the league in fewest interceptions thrown, that’s him throwing the ball to the other team more times than any other quarterback in the league three separate times. The closest he comes is when he had the best sack percentage in 2012, but if you’re hanging your hat on that your case is pretty weak.

For his win-loss record, he currently stands at 116-114. Not exactly the kind of record that screams dominant quarterback.

His efficiency stats are also very average. His ANY/A is more in line with Andy Dalton than Aaron Rodgers. This is simply not the profile of a Hall of Fame quarterback.

The Pro-Eli Arguments

He won two Super Bowls.

This is the one and only legitimate argument for Manning, but even then it’s not without it’s faults. What if I told you Alex Smith, who the Kansas City Chiefs moved on from in large part because of his inability to win playoff games, has performed better in the playoffs than Eli Manning?

Sure, Eli has the better playoff record (8-4 vs. 2-5), but Smith outperforms Manning by virtually every other measure. His passer rating is better (97.4 vs. 87.4), his ANY/A is better (6.76 vs. 6.12), and his teams score more points per game (26.3 vs. 19.3).

Even by traditional stats Smith outperforms Manning, with more passing yards per game (249.3 vs. 234.6) and a better TD/INT ratio (14/2 vs. 18/9).

It should be obvious that Manning has two Super Bowls not because he’s an elite quarterback, but instead because the rest of his team played at a high level during those playoff runs, and he made a pair of great throws

The only other quasi-argument is that Manning ranks seventh all-time in passing yardage.

While this is true, it’s only because of the number of attempts, not his efficiency. He’s sixth all-time in pass attempts. With large attempts comes large passing numbers, even for average players.

It should be clear to any objective person that Manning does not belong in the Hall of Fame.