ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – The New York Giants bet their future that Eli will be the next great Manning. The risk seems to be paying off.

Based on the opening weeks of training camp, Eli Manning not only seems to be on the verge of emulating his brother as a premier NFL quarterback, but could even push two-time MVP Kurt Warner for the starting job on opening day in Philadelphia.

“He is making some throws where you are astounded,” fullback Jim Finn, who played with Peyton Manning on the Colts, said of the No. 1 draft pick.

“The other day, he put a ball 50 yards in the corner of the end zone right on the money. That’s as good a throw as you can make. I don’t know what Archie was doing when they were younger, but they are both unbelievable. I think Eli has the potential to do what Peyton has done, and maybe exceed it.”

The Mannings are unique among NFL families.

Father Archie was the second overall pick in the 1971 draft, never achieving the superstar status predicted for him because he spent most of his career with a dismal New Orleans team. Peyton, No. 1 overall in 1998, has lived up to expectations; he was co-MVP last season.

Eli tries to avoid the inevitable comparisons.

“I don’t study Peyton, but obviously from watching him through high school, college, the NFL, you watch interviews with him and the things he does on and off the field and it comes naturally,” Eli Manning said. “It’s not like you want to be like him.”

Eli made his first start Thursday night in a nationally televised 27-20 loss to Carolina and at times looked more like a veteran than a rookie. Playing against one of the NFL’s best defenses, he was 9-of-15 for 117 yards, did not throw an interception and narrowly missed connecting with Amani Toomer for a touchdown against the Panthers’ first-team defense.

Archie Manning insists that Eli wasn’t born to play quarterback, that he’s only there because his skills dictated it. “He was always a quiet, shy kid,” the senior Manning said.

He started playing organized football in the eighth grade and having the best arm on the team made him the quarterback. Practice made him a star at every level, with Ole Miss being the last step before he joined the NFL in a Manning family-orchestrated draft-day deal between the Giants and Chargers.

“Some of it is genes, a lot of it is just hard work,” Eli Manning said. “I never felt pressure. It’s just something within yourself that some people have and some people don’t. Anything I’ve ever done, whether it’s school or this, I’ve always worked hard. I don’t like doing something halfway.”

Eli insists he’s not learning from Peyton. When the two talk, it’s mostly about family and life. The only advice Peyton gave Eli before training camp was to have his own pen at practice for autographs.

“Those are the tips I get from Peyton,” Eli quipped. “Nothing on Cover Two.”

Eli probably didn’t need that help.

Four plays into his first NFL preseason game, Eli found himself in a two-minute drill against the Kansas City Chiefs.

With two receivers flanked on each side, Manning looked over the line of scrimmage, recognized a two-deep coverage and knew exactly what to do, zipping a pass into the hole between the cornerback and the safety and into the hands of JaJuan Dawson for a 24-yard gain that set up a field goal as the half expired.

“He was not only changing plays out there, he was changing protections,” general manager Ernie Accorsi said. “I knew he had poise, but his composure is more than I expected. I saw two young ones come in Bert Jones and Bernie Kosar and they got it in time but …”

Accorsi didn’t have to finish the thought. Manning has it now, and it’s the reason the Giants were willing to give up the rights to quarterback Philip Rivers, the No. 4 pick overall, a third-round pick this year, and first- and fifth-round picks in 2005.

While they are doing their best to temper their comments, there is a giddiness in the organization when they talk about Manning. It runs from the front office to the guys in the equipment room.

“What did Bill Parcells say about Rodney Hampton after his first game?” chief operating officer John Mara asked.

“Don’t put him in the Hall of Fame yet!”

Note: Hampton became the Giants’ all-time leading rusher.

At Mississippi, Manning threw for 10,119 yards and 81 touchdowns. He set 47 schools records in the process. But the numbers weren’t what caught the attention of Chris Mara, the Giants’ vice president of player evaluation.

“What stood out with him over the other guys coming out was his awareness, his ability to see the field, which is probably more a family trait,” Chris Mara said. “It had nothing to do with his arm, his athletic ability or that type of prowess. It was his total awareness of the game.”

Eli got a simplified playbook a few weeks before reporting to the first of the offseason minicamps. By his own admission, Manning didn’t feel comfortable with the offense right away. By the last camp, he was asking detailed questions that made quarterbacks coach Kevin Gilbride feel as if he were dealing with a veteran.

“It’s easy to say, Well, look at his father, look at his brother,’ but it obviously shows that he’s put in a lot of thought as well,” Gilbride says. “It impresses me that he’s listened to what we’ve said, has internalized it and already has seen some of the problems that might manifest themselves.

“He says, What are we going to do when THAT takes place?’ There’s no question he’s a student of the game. Most of the great ones are.”

Manning’s ability on the field is evident. It’s the little things he does off the field that are almost as amazing. Joe Skiba, who has been the team’s assistant equipment manager for the past 11 years, called Manning “a pro’s pro.”

“Of all the guys I have been around, he understands the whole operation – the football, the business. He understands everyone in the organization has a job to do,” Skiba said.

Manning also understands the nature of New York. Play well and they love you. Play poorly and the boos won’t stop.

For now, he had a grace period. No one recognizes him yet.

A day after the opener against the Chiefs, Manning went unnoticed as he walked around New York City with his mother, cousin and sister-in-law, buying a few things for his apartment in New Jersey.

“He’s not a guy who jumps out at you,” co-owner Wellington Mara said. “You might walk past him at the dining room table and not recognize him. I like him, and I like what I have seen very much.”

Mara then stopped for a second and remembered all the negatives written about Manning after his first minicamp practice, when his passes were horrible.

“His first practice was no worse than Phil Simms’,” the 88-year-old Mara said with a smile.

Another first-round pick, Simms led the Giants to their first Super Bowl victory in January 1987. In this era, no one can guarantee that will happen soon, if it all, for Eli – for all his heroics, Peyton didn’t even win a playoff game until last season, his sixth in the NFL.

But Giant fans can hope.

“I love playing football, and I love to have it as your occupation,” Eli Manning said. “So it’s time to learn this offense and be a successful NFL quarterback.”

AP-ES-08-21-04 1145EDT