Giants Should Strongly Consider Drafting a Quarterback Early in April

Indisputable fact: It's almost impossible to win in the modern-day NFL without a great quarterback. 

Nine of the last 11 Super Bowl champions were led by superstar quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame conversation (Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers), and the other two (Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens and Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks) had a combined 14 touchdown passes and zero interceptions in seven playoff games on their teams' respective Super Bowl runs. 

Another indisputable fact: It's becoming increasingly difficult to find great quarterbacks.

Or rather, the definition of "great quarterback" has changed as teams have become more desperate for franchise-changing signal callers and record-breakers like Brady, Peyton Manning, Brees and Rodgers have raised the bar. 

Right now, it's safe to conclude that there are significantly fewer than 32 great pivots in a 32-team league. 

Whether or not Eli Manning of the New York Giants belongs in that group—which right now only definitively includes his big brother, Brady, Brees, Rodgers, Roethlisberger and probably Tony Romo, Andrew Luck, Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan—is up for debate. But that's also a discussion for another day, or at least another column. 

All that matters is this: The Giants are now certain to miss the playoffs for the fifth time in six years. And Manning, who will turn 34 in January and is by all indications beyond his prime, has been nothing more than a mediocre quarterback for three years running. 

Quarterback	Rating	INTs	Record
Brandon Weeden	71.8	28	8-18
Chad Henne	75.4	26	5-23
Eli Manning	81.3	54	19-25
Matt Stafford	82.5	46	19-25
Matt Schaub	82.6	28	15-18

And this: In April, the Giants are likely to hold their highest draft pick since they selected Philip Rivers fourth overall and immediately swapped him for No. 1 overall pick Eli Manning in 2004. 

Team	Record
1. Oakland Raiders	1-11
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2-10
3. Jacksonville Jaguars	2-10
4. Tennessee Titans	2-10
5. New York Jets	2-10
6. Washington Redskins	3-9
7. New York Giants	3-9
8. Carolina Panthers	3-8-1
9. Atlanta Falcons	5-7
10. Minnesota Vikings	5-7

Oh, and this: The 2014 draft appears to be loaded with potential franchise quarterbacks, two of whom—Oregon's Marcus Mariota and Florida State's Jameis Winston—are expected to be top-10 picks. UCLA's Brett Hundley's stock has fluctuated more wildly, but he's also a potential first-round selection. 

The stars may be perfectly aligned for the Giants to draft Manning's successor right now. Because in a parity-plagued league like this, a well-run franchise like Big Blue doesn't have many opportunities like these. 

The Giants haven't had a top-10 pick in over a decade, and there's a realistic chance they won't have another one for a decade to come.

They've lost seven straight now and are likely to lose 10-plus games this year for the first time since that '04 season, but the team is actually much better than its record. The problem is they've been hit especially hard by injuries.

Key cogs Victor Cruz, Prince Amukamara, Jon Beason, Walter Thurmond and Trumaine McBride are out for the year, while Geoff Schwartz, Rashad Jennings and Cullen Jenkins have missed large chunks of games. 

Every team has to deal with injuries, but ESPN.com's Dan Graziano points out that only two have had to place more players on injured reserve than the G-Men. 

Assuming the law of averages gives the Giants better luck with the football injury gods next season, and maybe even in 2016, there's a good chance they won't pick as high in those years as they will this spring. And even if they do, there's no guarantee the quarterback classes will be as strong. 

Right now, the timing may be perfect. 

By no means am I saying Manning is done. He's still young enough to recover from this rut and he's talented enough to lead this team on playoff runs. But he hasn't done close to enough to earn immunity as the franchise quarterback, short- or long-term. 

Even if Manning was a superstar playing his best football, it wouldn't be crazy to consider using a top pick on his potential heir right now. Keep in mind that Rodgers stood on the sideline for three years before having a chance to replace Brett Favre in Green Bay. Not every gifted young quarterback has to start as a rookie, or even a sophomore. 

The Giants could draft Manning's replacement now without having to feel compelled to start him until 2017, maybe even 2018. 

This is about being proactive, which paid off for the Packers in a major way. It's about attempting to make that elusive seamless transition from one franchise quarterback to another, which the Indianapolis Colts were lucky enough to do when jumping from Peyton Manning to Luck. 

It's not yet clear who'll be calling the shots come April. At 68, Tom Coughlin is the league's oldest head coach and is starting to face pressure regarding his future. General manager Jerry Reese's recent track record has rightly been called into question as well.

Those are also beast-sized topics for another time and place, but the point is that co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch are the only folks guaranteed to be on board come the new year.

Regardless of what Mara and Tisch decide (or Coughlin or Reese, if they have any say at all), the Giants have to realize that if they indeed wind up in a position to draft a potential quarterback of the future in the first round on April 30, they can't afford not to pull the trigger.  

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFC East for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon