When the Giants selected quarterback Ryan Nassib of Syracuse in the fourth round of the N.F.L. draft in 2013, General Manager Jerry Reese said he hoped that Nassib would never play.
As grim as that must have been for Nassib to hear, it was Reese’s way of emphasizing how much the Giants’ fortunes depended on Eli Manning, their franchise quarterback. Nassib threw only 10 passes in four years and was not retained this off-season.