Did Giants Land Eli Manning's Heir Apparent in Kyle Lauletta?

The New York Giants' heir apparent to Eli Manning is somebody already on the roster. Who it will be is still in question, though. 

Davis Webb must have experienced an uneasy feeling Saturday after the organization drafted Kyle Lauletta with the 108th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL draft in Arlington, Texas. The former Richmond Spider will challenge Webb to become the team's backup and eventually replace the 37-year-old Manning. 

Head coach Pat Shurmur described the expected dynamic within the Giants quarterback room, per NorthJersey.com's Art Stapleton: 

"Picking Kyle has less to do about Eli and Davis, more to do about Kyle. We liked the player, and we wanted to add him to our team, and we'll just let them compete. The one good thing about quarterbacks is, I've watched it with my son [Kyle, the quarterback at Vanderbilt], they're always drafting, or in the case of college, they're always recruiting the guy to replace you. So they're used to competition."

The two quarterback prospects fall on opposite ends of the spectrum with Lauletta better equipped to become a long-term starter. This may come across as a tad oxymoronic since Webb has already been in the league a year after former general manager Jerry Reese chose the Cal quarterback in the third round of the 2017 draft. 

Yet the reigning CAA Offensive Player of the Year is more advanced coming into the league with a mature understanding of pro-style concepts and how to throw with pace, precision and timing. 

"I've seen every play in the NFL," Lauletta said, per Yahoo Sports' Pete Thamel. "Looking at the playbook from the Texans and just being exposed to some NFL concepts, I've seen it all. There's nothing you can throw at me that I haven't seen before."

Webb, on the other hand, came from Air Raid derivatives at Texas Tech and Cal. Once a full-time starter, he struggled to throw with touch and consistent accuracy in the intermediate and deep zones.

Mark Lennihan/Associated Press/Associated Press

Although, his physical profile is impressive. The 23-year-old signal-caller is 6'5", 230 pounds and finished top five among quarterbacks at least year's combine in the 40-yard dash (4.79 seconds), vertical jump (33 inches), broad jump (9'10"), three-cone drill (6.92 seconds) and short shuttle (4.21 seconds). 

Lauletta, also 23, isn't as big (6'3", 222 lbs) and doesn't present the same caliber of arm strength. But he's a far more efficient signal-caller and showed a comprehensive understanding of offensive play. His intelligence and leadership skills—Lauletta double-majored with leadership as one area of study—make him the more cerebral option. 

Usually, quarterbacks who excel from the neck up can be viewed as lesser prospects who win on a down-by-down basis with pre- and post-snap reads while throwing with anticipation. Lauletta received the scarlet letter of a weak arm.

The quarterback addressed the issue in an open letter to all 32 general managers on the Players' Tribune: 

"Everything I read seems to highlight those two words as a big question mark surrounding me. By now, if you're reading this, you probably know how far I can throw, maybe even down to the centimeter. You know that I don't have the biggest arm in the draft. But if you've watched my game closely, you also probably know I can make every throw on the field that's asked of me. And I have."

Richmond's all-time leader in passing yards excels in the intermediate passing game, as noted by Pro Football Focus:

The Giants aren't particularly concerned with Lauletta's perceived lack of top-notch arm strength. Shurmur described what he likes in his new quarterback, per Stapleton: 

"I think there are people that say he doesn't have enough arm strength. I disagree. I think he's got all the traits, all the things you're looking for in a quarterback. He's tall enough, he's got good mobility and really arm strength is about fourth on the list. You have to be a good decision-maker, you have to have a sense of timing and you have to throw an accurate ball, which he does. He does all those three things well and he uses his feet to get the ball where he needs to get it and that's really what I was impressed by—he's got a good set of legs, he's tall enough, he's a winner, he's got moxie, he's very competitive and so we're glad to add him to the group and he's one of those guys that's going to come in and compete and be as good as he can be."

A look back at Shurmur's performance as offensive coordinator with the Minnesota Vikings showed a top-shelf arm isn't necessary to operate his West Coast-inspired scheme. In 2017 Case Keenum went from a journeyman to a franchise quarterback despite being considered too small and unable to stretch the field. Shurmur tailored his system to Keenum's strengths as a rhythm passer and moved the pocket to take advantage of his mobility.

The ability to launch the football 60-70 yards downfield isn't necessary. Instead, the FCS product showed he can play with the big boys after earning MVP honors at the Senior Bowl. Despite Lauletta's performance, teams drafted three other quarterbacks invited to Mobile, Alabama—Baker Mayfield (No. 1), Josh Allen (7) and Mason Rudolph (77)—before him. 

Obviously, Shurmur and general manager Dave Gettleman have no ties to Webb since they didn't draft him. So, the new regime beautifully constructed this year's draft class with Lauletta's selection speaking to how highly the organization views the quarterback prospect.

"Every time you go for need, you're going to be angry at yourself because you're going to be reaching," Gettleman said during the draft's third day, per The Athletic's Patricia Traina. 

Team-building extends beyond talent acquisition; taking the best player available is important, but so is patiently building a draft class. The Giants allowed the draft to come to them following their selection of former Penn State running back Saquon Barkley at No. 2 overall. 

Many, including myself, believed passing on a quarterback when the team hadn't owned a top-five selection since 2004 was a mistake.

New York needed to prepare for the future, or so we thought.

Instead, they stood firm and built a complementary class with an elite running back prospect, a massive "hog molly" in UTEP's Will Hernandez (No. 34) to secure the offensive interior, an athletic pass-rusher in Georgia's Lorenzo Carter (66) to replace Jason Pierre-Paul and a potential franchise quarterback at No. 108. 

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Shurmur already opened the door for Lauletta to become the eventual starter. 

"If at some point he is not the starter, then he is going to do what he can to help the starter be good and that's what I'm talking about when I say we want a great quarterback room," the coach told Stapleton. 

Manning, of course, will start this coming year and maybe longer. The Giants have built an exciting offense (on paper) around the two-time Super Bowl-winning signal-caller. However, the team's new head coach already intimated the possibility of Lauletta taking his spot down the road, and Manning's contract ends after the 2019 campaign. 

At worst, the Giants have two talented options being prepped by the greatest quarterback in franchise history. Lauletta, though, looks to be the organization's hand-picked choice to take over the offense in two years. 

Brent Sobleski covers the NFL draft for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @brentsobleski.