NFL

Gannon: New offense a ‘dramatic change’ for Eli

The words tumble out, one more ominous than the next, all intended to verbalize what awaits the pupil Eli Manning.

“Very uncomfortable and difficult process’’ comes before “risk involved’’ and then, finally, “scary.’’

These are the warnings of Rich Gannon, who knows exactly what Manning is going through as, after a decade in the NFL running essentially one system, he has been handed the keys to an unfamiliar West Coast offense. It is the greatest upheaval Manning has confronted in his life as an NFL quarterback.

“I think Eli’s going to love it,’’ Gannon told The Post, “once he gets his arms around it.’’

There’s the rub. Manning getting his arms around this wholly foreign offense installed by first-year offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo, a former Packers assistant, is not going to be accomplished in one offseason or one training camp. There will be growing pains, progress followed by regression. In some ways, this is more challenging than a 23-year-old Eli Manning as a rookie trying to comprehend Tom Coughlin’s system, as the current iteration of Eli Manning is 33 and has to unlearn so much of what he knows before he can ever feel he’s a master of the West Coast domain. The breadth of this undertaking is immense.

“That’s why when you look at Peyton Manning’s success, you look at Tom Brady’s success, Aaron Rodgers’ success, Drew Brees’ success, they all are in one system, essentially,’’ Gannon said. “Not a lot of new learning. That’s important when you look at that position. So there’s risk involved when you take a guy like Eli, who’s so established in his career and has had great success, now all of a sudden you make a dramatic change.’’

Gannon has been there, done that. He spent the first seven years of his NFL career with the Vikings and Redskins, as far from the principles of the West Coast offense as you can get. When he got to Kansas City, he met up with Paul Hackett and Mike McCarthy, and they taught him the West Coast system. It was not an easy transition, but it proved to be the difference in what evolved into a 17-year stay as an NFL quarterback.

“I went from being a vagabond to NFL MVP,’’ said Gannon, now an analyst for the NFL Network and SiriusXM NFL Radio. “That’s how I feel about it.’’

Jeff Zelevansky
Manning is no vagabond, but the two-time Super Bowl MVP is at a crossroads, coming off a season (57.5 completion percentage, 27 interceptions, rating of 69.4) that gets most quarterbacks benched or released. Statistically, Manning has never been overwhelmingly impressive, but he has been at his best in fourth quarters or during the fabled postseason runs of 2007 and 2011.

He thrived in a system featuring a downfield, vertical passing game, relying on his receivers to dissect a complex set of defensive codes to find openings. While quarterbacks in West Coast systems got the ball out more quickly and saw their completion percentage rise, Manning took more chances and threw more interceptions, but also cashed in with game-breaking plays.

Gannon said there are three distinct focal points for a quarterback in the West Coast offense: footwork, quick decisions and accuracy. At first glance, those are not three of Manning’s strongest attributes.

Manning is hardly a scrambler, but that’s not the footwork he’ll need to improve. He’s quite adept sliding and maneuvering in the pocket, but Gannon sees, if not laziness, a measure of sloppiness in Manning’s footwork, likely caused by so much time back in the shotgun. A hallmark of any West Coast attack is the three-step drop from behind center, which must be precision-perfect.

“I can promise you he’ll be doing a lot of different drills,’’ Gannon said. “The box drills, the quick feet drills, the jump rope with your helmet and shoulder pads on. That’s how you get better with your feet. I think he’s athletic enough, I think he’s talented enough, I think he’s highly motivated.”

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (center) looks to pass during an NFL football organized team activity.AP

Manning has shown himself to be gifted throwing the deep ball, but pinpoint control on short or intermediate passes is not his calling card.

“I think his accuracy, once he gets comfortable in the system, he’ll improve dramatically,’’ Gannon said. “We always talk about trust your feet, your feet will take you to the completion.

“You look at his career completion percentage, what is it, around 58 percent? It’s not great. That number has to be at 65 percent. You got to shoot for the stars at 70 percent and come in there at about 65, 67 percent. Anything below 60 percent in our league right now is unacceptable.’’

There are calls in the West Coast offense to take “shots’’ down the field, but even those are different from the plays Manning is accustomed to running.

“He has to understand when I call a ‘shot’ play and it’s not there, I need you to do the right thing,’’ Gannon said, speaking as the offensive coordinator. “I don’t need you to throw it up for Victor Cruz or somebody to make a miraculous catch. I need you to check the ball down to the back, you’ll find a completion and we’ll move the chains.’’

The selling job, even during the inevitable struggles, should not be much of an issue.

“First of all, you have to tell him ‘Look, this system is going to lengthen your career,’’’ Gannon said. “I know Ben McAdoo from having been with Mike [McCarthy], he’s a sharp guy. He can really help Eli become a better player and that’s exciting. You’re talking about a guy who’s a talented quarterback who’s won Super Bowls. He’s got a chance to get better.’’