N.Y. Giants to Start Offensive Lineman at QB (possibly)

 Well, after taking Jared Lorenzen in 2 (TWO!) fantasy football drafts as a joke, old eDay may have the last laugh.  The Giants (or at least Tom Coughlin) are completely down-playing Eli Manning’s damaged shoulder.  Actually, his torn labrum, which to be honest, we thought was somewhere in the pelvic region instead of the shoulder.  The Hefty Lefty may get his first NFL start Sunday if Manning isn’t quite as healthy as advertised.

More gigantic man love after the jump.

a slightly separated shoulder which is expected to keep him out at least a month, sources told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen on Monday.

 Wow.  I mean, absolutely W.O.W.  It was quite a surprise to a lot of people that anyone even picked up Lorenzen after his career at UK.  Sure he had an absolute cannon and when allowed to go vertical he could do some damage to opposing secondaries. 

The thing is, the NFL is much more dependent on reading defenses, making smart decisions, and being able to hit your target on passes 5, 10, 15, and 20 yards down field.  Only 14% of the total receptions in the NFL last year went for 20+ yards, so a QB has to be accurate on short passes with quick reads.  This wasn’t J. Lo’s strong point at UK.

To be fair, Lorenzen’s ability to read defenses and his accuracy improved over his years at UK.  Although the stats say his accuracy never changed much (average completion rate of 57%, with 57% as a Frosh, Soph, and Sr and 56% as a Jr) the offensive strategies changed a lot over those years.  All the screen passes and short 5 yard throws that UK used as running plays his early years helped inflate his percentage those years.  Maybe the past few years of sitting the bench and being around an NFL team will Lorenzen set to make some good reads and be on point with his throws.

All of this may be wishful thinking though.  I mean when Coach Coughlin himself says things like this:

“I don’t know where that report came from and I don’t know where the information supposedly came from,” Coughlin said, adding that if Manning can’t play this week “it will be another week.”

The sheer genius of this statement is hard to miss.  If he can’t play this week…”it will be another week.”  Really?  Sometimes I wonder how the man dresses himself in the morning (assuming he does).

In the end, what really matters is that all of those fans down in Lexington, KY will be flocking to their televisions on Sunday if Lorenzen does start.  He had a lot of fans in the Bluegrass due to his sheer athletic ability.  Well, yeah, maybe it was because he was bigger than a couple of his linemen at times.  And no, that is in fact not a joke. 

We at apias.net wish you luck Jared.  Hopefully you get to go out and show what you can do at the NFL level.  Whether that’s a 300 yard day for 3 TD’s or a 110 yard day with 3 picks, you deserve your chance to show what you have.  Here’s hoping that the Packers don’t make you eat that ball this weekend.  That is, if you weren’t planning to do that already.

[ESPN] [ProFootballReference]